James Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, was in El Paso Saturday for a campaign rally and held a news conference outside Camp East Montana, the largest immigrant detention center in the country. Here's is a transcript of his interview with KRWG's KC Counts. We have reached out to the other candidates in this race and will air and post their interviews as they are conducted.
KC Counts:
Thank you so much for taking the time. Before we begin, I just have to issue a quick disclaimer, and that is that here at KRWG Public Media, we do have an equal time policy. So I will reach out to the other candidates for U.S. Senate in Texas, and if they respond, we'll ask them the same questions that I'm about to ask you.
James Talarico:
Got it. That sounds great.
KC Counts:
Let me begin by asking you, what in your background has prepared you to serve in the
U.S. Senate for Texans.
James Talarico:
Well, before I was a legislator, I was a public school teacher. I taught sixth grade language arts on the west side of San Antonio at Rhodes Middle School. And I always joke that teaching middle school is the best preparation for politics. And in some ways, it's true because, you know, I learned on the west side, the meaning of service -of how to serve my students and their families and the community. And what I saw on the west side of San Antonio is what motivated me to run for office in the firstplace. I saw how budget cuts passed by politicians in the halls of power hurt students like mine and families like theirs. And that's why I stepped in to run for the state House. I've now served for four terms in the Texas Legislature. Even as a Democrat, I've been able to work across the aisle to pass major legislation to bring down the cost of childcare, the cost of housing, the cost of prescription drugs, including insulin, and I've been able to fight to fund our schools and raise teacher pay and expand access to health care. And now I want to take all those fights to our nation's capital because we need a senator who's going to stand up against corruption and who's going to fight to make life more affordable here in Texas.
KC Counts:
I feel like you kind of addressed my second question there, the top issues you've identified that are important to Texans that you can take to the U.S. Senate. So let's just move on to the next question and say, how do you anticipate successfully addressing those in the Senate, if you are elected?
James Talarico:
Well, I think the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. And so people can look at how I led as a state lawmaker for four terms. I was able to build big coalitions with Democrats and Republicans, with Texans from all backgrounds to get stuff done, to deliver for working people in our state. And that's what we need in a U.S. senator. We need someone who's going to fight, but also someone who's going to deliver. And a good leader can do both. And I think I've shown in a difficult environment, in the trenches of the state capitol, that I can do both. And I want to do both for the people of Texas inthe U.S. Senate.
KC Counts:
You're in El Paso as we are having this conversation. You just visited Camp East Montana. Obviously, people in El Paso - the community has pushed back, first of all, on the idea of building more of these large centers to house immigrants; and recently, our airspace was closed off, supposedly for 10 days. We don't know if we got the real story, but when President Donald Trump was asked about it, he said, “people learn”. What did that say to you?
James Talarico:
I don't know what the president means by that, but we just had a press conference outside of that detention center, which is the largest ICE detention center in the country, and I talked about how human beings were being beaten and sexually abused, and some of them have died in that facility. And that's all happening on our watch as Texans. It's happening in our name, and these are moral crimes. We should be treating our undocumented neighbors with respect, with dignity and decency. We can have a conversation about how to reform this immigration system, how to enforce immigration laws, but these undocumented Texans are our neighbors. And, you know, my faith is central in my life. It's central in my public service. The most common commandment in the Bible is welcome the stranger. And the Bible says we welcome the stranger because we were once the stranger. All of us have that immigrant story somewhere in our family histories. You wouldn't be talking to a guy with the last name Talarico if this wasn't a nation of immigrants. And so these neighbors of ours deserve a lot better than ICE terrorizing them and their children, ICE tearing families apart. We should be spending our precious law enforcement resources going after violent criminals. We should be cracking down on the cartels, not our communities. We should be deporting gang members, not small business owners. We should be hunting down human traffickers, not moms and babies. And so I think Texans across the political spectrum are fed up with this extremism and this corruption, and they're ready for a change.
KC Counts:
What do you think is the appropriate path to take at the federal level on immigration?
James Talarico:
Well, I've said that our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door. We should welcome immigrants who want to come here and live the American dream, who want to contribute to our economy and our communities, who want to make us richer and stronger, as immigrants have always done in El Paso, in Texas, and in this country. And we should keep out people who mean to do us harm and deport anyone who commits a violent crime immediately. Those are not mutually exclusive goals. We can and must do both.
KC Counts:
El Paso is a community that was rocked in 2019 by a mass shooting. 23 people died, many more injured. And that came on the heels of the stepped-up rhetoric on immigration. From 2019 to today, it seems to have only deteriorated. What do you think about that?
James Talarico:
Well, that day in El Paso at that Walmart will go down as one of the darkest days in Texas history, and it's one that I remember all too well. I remember I gave a sermon at my church in the weeks after that massacre here in El Paso, and it has shaped me as a leader. I know it has shaped the people of this community. It's how we all think about these issues. And you're exactly right that that killer was motivated and inspired by extreme rhetoric from our state's top leaders on the issue of immigration, describing, you know, an invasion of people into our state. And that's what inspired that man to go and kill our neighbors here in El Paso; and he traveled across the state to do it. And so, we have to be more responsible with how we speak as leaders, and we've got to do something about the gun violence epidemic in our state and our country. I support the Second Amendment. I believe people have a right to bear arms, but we can take common sense steps to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and to make sure that we keep everybody safe in our communities.
KC Counts:
I know we're a little over on our seven minutes, but is there anything else that you think is important for people to know before I let you go?
James Talarico:
Well I just - I know that El Paso often gets overlooked by statewide candidates and statewide leaders. My grandparents lived here in El Paso for many years and I spent a lot of my childhood days in this community. I remember the first time I ever saw mountains when I was a kid was here in El Paso and so this beautiful community means a lot to me personally, and I want the people here to know that I want to be their U.S. senator and I want to fight for them. I want to fight for El Paso in our nation's capital.
KC Counts:
You're going to stop by Chico's while you're there? Chico's Tacos?
James Talarico:
[laughter] I think it's on our agenda.
KC Counts:
I would imagine so. All right. Well, thank you so much for spending this time with us. We appreciate hearing from you.
James Talarico:
I appreciate you. Thank you.
