Talarico’s Longtime Church Has A History Of Shielding Illegal Aliens

Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s longtime church has a history of shielding illegal immigrants from arrest and deportation, according to a review of its website and previous statements.

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin began housing Hilda Ramirez, who had received a deportation order, and her son, Ivan, in 2016 as they hid from federal immigration authorities, The Austin Chronicle reported that year.

At the time, ICE agents were barred from entering churches and other “sensitive locations.”

It appears that Talarico was aware of his church’s “sanctuary” policy and noted in a 2023 podcast interview that the church housed an “undocumented mother and son who were close to being deported by ICE.”

The Guatemalan mother and son, who claimed they were fleeing abuse from Ivan’s grandfather back in Guatemala, were previously detained in an ICE detention center for 11 months before they were released from custody and sought refuge inside the church.

Eventually, Hilda was denied asylum and received a deportation order, but successfully fought to receive a stay of her removal order until 2026. Ivan later obtained a green card.

“We know that Hilda and Ivan have a target on their back because they have been very outspoken about their situation. We’ve done everything we can to make sure that even though they have that target, they’re safe here,” St. Andrew’s pastor Rev. Babs Miller said in 2025.

“In the best of worlds, they both would be very, very safe. In our current world, we don’t know,” Miller said.

It is not clear if Hilda and Ivan still reside in the church, whose website states that its “immigrant support committee” has been supporting the Guatemalan pair as they “live in the sanctuary at our church, as they transition out of St. Andrew’s.”

Rev. Carol Johnson of St. Andrew’s was recently caught in an undercover video obtained by Texas Scorecard, stating that the church is a “sanctuary” and is currently housing a Guatemalan immigrant, but did not provide any specific details about the person’s case or identity.

“We actually have a person living in our church who is from Guatemala and has worked here for eight years. So we are a sanctuary church,” Johnson said.

The church’s website also boasts on its “social justice” page that it has “offered sanctuary to immigrants in need of refuge.”

In February, The Texas Tribune reported that members of the church “stand watch” for ICE agents during their twice-monthly food pantry.

Upon reentering the White House, President Donald Trump rescinded the longstanding policy that made churches “sensitive locations” that couldn’t be touched by ICE agents.

Still, ICE tends to avoid churches if possible.

White House border czar Tom Homan has said that while ICE is permitted to enter what have been characterized as “sensitive locations,” they’re not looking to conduct large-scale raids of houses of worship.

“If we have a significant public safety threat or national security threat, for instance, (if there’s an MS-13) in high school and we know he’s selling drugs, we know he’s harming other children at that school, and we’re going to go to arrest him. Doesn’t mean we’re doing a sweep of the high school. We’re not doing sweeps. We’re not doing sweeps to elementary schools. We’re not going to walk in a church and do a large enforcement operation,” the former ICE chief told KVIA in February 2025.

Homan continued: “But when we have a public safety threat or national security threat, there’s no safe harbor. There’s no sanctuary for them. So we’re going to go. We got to go.”

Talarico’s church did not respond to a request for comment. Talarico’s campaign also did not respond.

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