{"id":138779,"date":"2026-01-26T19:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/138779\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:54:08","slug":"after-texas-senate-debate-democratic-candidates-draw-gop-fire-over-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/138779\/","title":{"rendered":"After Texas Senate debate, Democratic candidates draw GOP fire over immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN \u2013 Texas\u2019 Democratic Senate candidates spent their first debate<\/a> assailing President Donald Trump, immigration enforcement and billionaire power, but they never once mentioned Sen. John Cornyn, the incumbent whose seat they are seeking.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

Instead, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico chiefly slammed GOP policies they said are hurting Texans, with Talarico casting Attorney General Ken Paxton as the real threat in the Republican primary \u2013 a signal, Cornyn said afterward on X, that Democrats are rooting for Paxton to win.<\/p>\n

Cornyn dismissed that notion with a two-word jab: \u201cThey wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Crockett and Talarico, in a union-sponsored debate Saturday in Georgetown, repeatedly slammed the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement actions, and that prompted swift Republican counterattacks.<\/p>\n

The exchange highlighted how immigration remains a friction point in the campaign, with Democrats criticizing federal tactics and Republicans portraying both candidates as soft on border security.<\/p>\n

Crockett said she opposed additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling it a \u201crogue organization\u201d and arguing \u201cwe need to clean house from top to bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico said that \u201cit\u2019s time to tear down this secret police force\u201d and replace it with an agency \u201cthat actually is going to focus on public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KXAN-TV's<\/p>\n

KXAN-TV’s Daniel Marin and Dallas Morning News’ Gromer Jeffers moderate a debate between primary candidates for U.S. Senate, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during the Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Convention, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Georgetown, Texas. (Bob Daemmrich\/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)<\/p>\n

Bob Daemmrich \/ AP<\/p>\n

In response, Cornyn said the Democrats were embracing \u201cradical policies\u201d that are \u201cunhinged and wrong for Texas.\u201d <\/p>\n

Paxton posted that voters were hearing \u201cthe deranged ramblings of two radical\u201d Democrats who want to abolish ICE.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston is the other main Republican candidate in the March 3 Senate primary. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, national Republicans circulated a shortened clip that omitted part of Talarico\u2019s response about border security. The National Republican Senatorial Committee posted a video with only his line that \u201cour southern border should be like our front porch\u2026 a giant welcome mat out front,\u201d suggesting that he\u2019s for open borders.<\/p>\n

That drew pushback from Democrats, who shared the full quote on social media: \u201cThere should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door.\u201d The GOP\u2019s truncated version, critics said, cut his emphasis on keeping out those who \u201cmean to do us harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxton scrutiny<\/p>\n

Paxton surfaced in the debate largely as shorthand for corruption and a November target. Talarico said he and Crockett were focused on \u201cstopping a senator Ken Paxton.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talarico branded Paxton \u201cthe most corrupt politician in America\u201d and cited his vote to impeach Paxton in the Texas Legislature over corruption allegations. Talarico said he \u201cevaluated all the evidence\u201d before voting \u201cmy conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GOP-led House impeached Paxton, and the Senate later acquitted him.<\/p>\n

On other issues, the Democratic contenders painted billionaires as a driving force behind economic inequality and political influence. <\/p>\n

Talarico said \u201cthree men own as much wealth as the entire middle class,\u201d naming Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. He said the ultra-wealthy aren\u2019t \u201cjust buying yachts and jets, they are buying power,\u201d while public schools and social programs are being squeezed. <\/p>\n

Crockett said Republicans have delivered massive tax breaks to billionaires while pulling nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and Medicare. She proposed restoring higher tax rates on the wealthy to fund health care, education and food access.<\/p>\n

Republicans have rejected that approach, warning that higher taxes would stifle job creation and investment.<\/p>\n

Immigration<\/p>\n

Democratic Senate candidates Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico used a debate Saturday to criticize federal immigration enforcement, calling for major changes to how border security and immigration policy are handled.<\/p>\n

Crockett: She said she opposed increased funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the agency has become a \u201crogue organization\u201d that is violating the law and targeting people it was never intended to pursue. She promoted transparency efforts to help families locate detained relatives and strengthen oversight.<\/p>\n

Talarico: He said ICE should be dismantled and replaced with an agency focused on public safety rather than community raids. He said enforcement should prioritize cartels and traffickers, not families, and described the border as a \u201cfront porch,\u201d pairing a \u201cwelcome mat\u201d for lawful immigration with a \u201clock on the door\u201d for those who pose a threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN \u2013 Texas\u2019 Democratic Senate candidates spent their first debate assailing President Donald Trump, immigration enforcement and billionaire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[288,223,29028,287,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-138779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-elections","tag-news","tag-newsletters","tag-politics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}