Talarico Says He’s for Border Security. His Texas House Voting Record Tells a Different Story

The U.S. Senate race in Texas is heating up, with Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico offering sharply different approaches to border security.

On the campaign trail, Talarico has claimed he supports border security and touted legislation he authored in the Texas Legislature to increase security at ports of entry by installing X-ray inspection technology systems at Texas-Mexico border crossings.

Talarico’s campaign website also says he wants to strengthen border security, support law enforcement response efforts, maximize safety, and enhance infrastructure and road technology at the border.

However, his voting record in the Texas House tells a different story.

Talarico has served in the Texas House since 2018. During that time, he has frequently voted against border security measures, often along partisan lines. 

During the 86th Legislative Session, Talarico voted against House Bill 888, which allows people who misrepresent a child as a family member to be arrested and charged with a Class B misdemeanor in any county throughout Texas.

In 2021, during the 87th Legislative Session, Talarico again voted against a border security bill, House Bill 9, that appropriates $1.8 billion for border security efforts. The bill devoted $750 million to constructing an additional border barrier and $450 million to increase the number of Texas National Guard and other law enforcement personnel at the border.

During the 88th Legislative Session, Talarico voted against three additional border security measures

He voted “no” on House Bill 7, which created a Texas Border Protection Unit and funded border security infrastructure.

He also voted against Senate Bill 602, which expanded Border Patrol’s authority to arrest individuals accused of committing state crimes, and Senate Bill 1403, which authorized interstate cooperation and assistance for defensive border infrastructure.

Talarico was recorded as absent for the vote on House Bill 6, which allocated funds for border barriers and increased penalties for human smuggling. 

During the fourth called session of the 88th Legislative Session, Talarico continued his opposition to border security measures, voting against Senate Bill 3. The bill provided funding for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier infrastructure and border security operations, including additional overtime expenses and costs associated with increased law enforcement presence.

Talarico also voted “no” on Senate Bill 4, a sweeping border security bill that made unauthorized entry into Texas from a foreign nation a state crime and allowed local police to arrest migrants

He voted against House Bill 4, which prohibits the illegal entry into, or illegal presence in, Texas by a person who is an alien, established enforcement provisions, and authorized the removal of people who violated certain provisions instead of arrest. The bill also created criminal offenses.

Talarico stated he opposed the bill because it didn’t offer real solutions to the problem.

“We have real problems on our southern border, but this bill doesn’t provide any real solutions. Instead, this legislation doubled down on those same dangerous border stunts,” he said. “We spent $10 billion, and border crossings are actually up in the very places where we’ve pulled these stunts.

“This bill doesn’t reform our asylum system, it doesn’t establish a guest worker program, it doesn’t relieve the visa backlog. It doesn’t modernize our ports of entry where 93% of the fentanyl gets in. But why work on solutions when you can score points off the problem? Trapping migrants in razor wire makes for much better TV. Texans deserve solutions, not stunts.”

In the most recent session, Talarico voted against Senate Bill 8, which allows local law enforcement to assist the federal government with deportation efforts. The bill required counties with a population of 100,000 or more to enter 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, allowing local law enforcement to receive delegated authority to act as ICE agents in certain capacities.

Talarico has also missed more than 800 votes in the Texas House between May 2019 and May 2025.

Beyond his voting record, Talarico has made multiple statements that have raised concerns among some Texas voters.

During a Texas Democratic Senate primary debate, Talarico said he believes America’s southern border should be “like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door.”

Todd Bensman, a senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Signal that Talarico uses confusing rhetoric intentionally.

“Talarico does a lot of what I call ‘masking’ in his rhetoric about border security and what he’ll do well if he’s elected senator. It all amounts to relief, catch and release, and opening up the border to border-crossers,” Bensman said. “He’s proposing that we have expedited asylum-claim processing for people that cross the border so that, theoretically, those who are declined would be deported.”

Bensman added that Talarico supports a catch-and-release approach.

“If they’re not hardened criminals, they get to stay,” Bensman said. “Which means you can come over the border, and if you’re not a hardened criminal, you get to stay.”

Paxton released a statement on Talarico’s voting record, calling him a hypocrite.

“James Talarico has a long streak of lying to voters, but the truth is, no one, not a soul, looks at James Talarico and thinks, ‘Now there’s a guy who will be tough on the cartel.’ And they would be right. He never has been tough on the border,” Paxton said.

“James Talarico is a hypocrite who has taken a page out of the Joe Biden playbook: He talks tough, but when it comes down to it, he wants America and Texas to be a place of lawlessness, and he wants the American dream dead.”

Talarico’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.