{"id":2644264,"date":"2026-08-13T08:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjames-talaricos-border-policies-could-spark-another-biden-level-migrant-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T12:44:09","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjames-talaricos-border-policies-could-spark-another-biden-level-migrant-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjames-talaricos-border-policies-could-spark-another-biden-level-migrant-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Talarico&#8217;s Border Policies Could Spark A Biden-Level Migrant Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjames-talaricos-border-policies-could-spark-another-biden-level-migrant-crisis%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2644264&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Texas Senate candidate James Talarico\u2019s border security stance, which uses the metaphor of &#8220;locking the door&#8221; versus having a welcoming &#8220;welcome mat.&#8221; despite seeming moderate, his policy proposals closely resemble the Biden administration\u2019s approach, emphasizing restarting border asylum claims, fast-tracking decisions, and exempting many illegal immigrants from deportation.This &#8220;locked-door&#8221; strategy, as interpreted by the author, woudl effectively replicate an open-border policy similar to Biden\u2019s, possibly leading to a new surge in illegal migration. The piece argues that policies allowing illegal entrants to stay and work encourage mass migration, while strict enforcement and expulsions reduce it. Talarico\u2019s voting record shows opposition to meaningful border security measures, and his actual plans favor leniency, providing amnesty and benefits for illegal immigrants. the article suggests that his rhetoric disguises a policy approach that could <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >substantially increase illegal border crossings<\/a>. Todd Bensman, a senior researcher at The Heritage Foundation, is cited as the author, bringing expertise in border security and immigration enforcement.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this article are the author\u2019s own and do not reflect any institutional position for The Heritage Foundation or its board of trustees.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>James Talarico, the left-wing Democrat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khou.com\/article\/news\/politics\/talarico-paxton-texas-senate-poll\/285-807cd9b4-fc56-429c-9172-f4c0b4a5a7c8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ahead in some polls<\/a> in the Texas U.S. Senate race against Republican Ken Paxton, has staked out a guiding border security policy idea that has puzzled many voters: \u201cOur border should be like a front porch \u2014 it should have a welcome mat out front and a lock on the door,\u201d he has said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2026\/07\/07\/heres-where-james-talarico-ken-paxton-stand-on-immigration-border-security\/90825378007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on the campaign trail<\/a> and in his <a href=\"https:\/\/jamestalarico.com\/issue\/immigration-border-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online border policy page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever Talarico is signaling might\u00a0matter if he becomes the first Democrat senator from Texas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/11\/05\/heres-how-texas-voted-every-us-senate-election-1961\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988<\/a>. That\u2019s because he proclaims on his campaign page that \u201cTexans should be the ones to lead our country in finally pursuing comprehensive immigration reforms \u2026\u201d and asks voters to \u201cimagine having a U.S. Senator from Texas who will take the charge to get that done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, does Talarico\u2019s metaphor about locking the door of Texas \u2014 owner of the longest international border of any of the contiguous states \u2014 mean he\u2019s a hardline restrictionist who would channel Trump\u2019s policies, which ended the worst mass migration border crisis in American history? Or does his \u201cwelcome mat\u201d metaphor mean Talarico would start another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-border-threat-so-taboo-that-few-dare-speak-of-it\/\" title=\"A ... Threat So Taboo That Few Dare Speak Of It\">mass migration crisis<\/a> at the southern border?<\/p>\n<p>The smart money is on the latter option. A careful examination of Talarico\u2019s elaborating public statements, social media, and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourbasin.com\/news\/texas-border-security-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commonsense border security<\/a>\u201d campaign materials demonstrates that his locked-door-welcome-mat ideas, if ever implemented, would closely replicate the Biden administration\u2019s wide-open border and likewise induce another swamping tidal wave of humanity to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a universal principle that always determines the start or end of mass migration events. It boils down to whether American political leaders and courts allow enough illegal border jumpers to successfully enter and stay to earn enough money to at least repay their smuggling investment. If they are let in to stay, they\u2019ll come in force because the effort is worth the smuggling money. If they\u2019re expelled and blocked, they won\u2019t risk the money.<\/p>\n<p>A pure \u201cwelcome mat\u201d policy, therefore, lets illegal immigrants in to earn money long-term without fear of deportation (usually while pursuing meritless political asylum or humanitarian protection claims). If they calculate for that outcome, aspiring illegal immigrants will pay regardless of whether they must beg, borrow, or steal the smuggling money. A profound real-world example happened in 2021, when the Biden administration began admitting most arriving inadmissible aliens into the country to eventually start their meritless asylum claims.<\/p>\n<p>Millions from all over the world paid the smuggling fees and bum-rushed the border for the next four years, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-u-turn-on-illegal-immigration-will-last-only-until-election\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s U-Turn On Illegal Immigration Will Last Only Until Election\">worst mass migration crisis<\/a> in American history.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, if an allegedly \u201clocked door\u201d policy stops, blocks, and actively deports, would-be illegal immigrants will just stay home and save their smuggling money for when the welcome mat is laid out again.<\/p>\n<p>A profound real-world example of how the \u201clocked door\u201d works happened when Trump\u2019s proclamation \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/01\/29\/2025-01951\/guaranteeing-the-states-protection-against-invasion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion<\/a>\u201d suspended the right of illegal crossers to apply for asylum. The asylum ban, plus orders for Border Patrol and U.S. military personnel to catch everyone they could and expel them, along with at least the promise of mass interior deportations, <a href=\"https:\/\/cis.org\/Bensman\/Greatest-Mass-Migration-Border-Crisis-US-History-Over\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abruptly ended the 2021-2024 crisis<\/a>. Aspiring illegal aliens are still staying home rather than gambling their money against high-probability border or interior expulsion.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Masking a Biden Border Restoration<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But what Talarico means when he says \u201clocking the door\u201d is the opposite of what Trump meant and what most Americans might think it means.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico\u2019s plan calls for <em>restarting asylum claims at the border <\/em>and fast-tracking determinations by hiring more immigration judges <em>\u201c<\/em>so that only legitimate claims are approved, and ensure legitimate asylees receive protection quickly,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstalert7.com\/2026\/07\/13\/live-talarico-continues-frontera-tour-with-border-security-event-sanderson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> he<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tpr.org\/border-immigration\/2026-07-13\/talarico-unveils-border-security-plan-criticizes-biden-policies-and-trumps-big-bend-wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised at a July campaign rally<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Few seem to realize that Talarico\u2019s entire scheme comes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/commentary\/post-title-42-vision-migration-management-comes-focus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">straight from the Biden border<\/a> playbook, right down to its infamous terminology. While Talarico publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tpr.org\/border-immigration\/2026-07-13\/talarico-unveils-border-security-plan-criticizes-biden-policies-and-trumps-big-bend-wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">condemns<\/a> Biden\u2019s border policies as terrible, he adopts the Biden-era \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/progressive-talarico-knifes-bidens-open-border-tries-moderate-stance-key-issues-texas-senate-race\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sane, orderly process at our southern border<\/a>\u201d description to describe his plan, which is almost identical to the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/ni.usembassy.gov\/dhs-scheduling-system-for-safe-orderly-and-humane-border-processing-goes-live-on-cbp-onetm-app\/#:~:text=Mayorkas.%20%E2%80%9CWhen%20Title%2042%20eventually%20lifts%2C%20this,their%20inspection%20at%20a%20port%20of%20entry.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">safe, orderly, and humane<\/a>\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/archive\/statement-from-secretary-mayorkas-on-efficiently-and-fairly-processing-asylum-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asylum processing<\/a> that Biden\u2019s U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once deployed. Mayorkas never tired of using the \u201csafe-orderly\u201d euphemism to also describe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/commentary\/post-title-42-vision-migration-management-comes-focus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supposedly fast-tracked<\/a> asylum decisions.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sweetening the Old Biden Pie: No Expulsion or Deportation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But here\u2019s the real rub about Talarico\u2019s Orwellian use of \u201clocking the door\u201d campaign imagery. All of his plans exempt the majority of illegal aliens from deportation, presumably to include those DENIED asylum. Deportation is only applied in the unlikely event that some fresh border arrivals who have never been inside the country are somehow discovered to be U.S.-convicted criminals, confirmed gang members, or human traffickers. But the bright, glaring omission in Talarico\u2019s plans and statements is a single provision for <em>deporting<\/em> everyone who was declined in his fast-tracked asylum process.<\/p>\n<p>The deportation-exempt in Talarico\u2019s world include \u201cour neighbors who contribute to our communities, pay taxes, and pose no threat to our safety \u2026 small business owners \u2026 moms and babies \u2026 folks who want \u2026 to pursue the American dream,\u201d his border policy page says. Heads the illegals win, tails the Americans lose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe should be cracking down on the cartels, not our communities,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe can both welcome the stranger \u2014 refugees, asylum seekers, and folks who want to contribute to our economy and pursue the American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just restarting asylum processing at the border and exempting most from expulsion creates an irresistible narcotic draw on the world\u2019s poor. But Talarico\u2019s plan further sweetens the pie. It promises to legalize large categories of illegal immigrants, to end border wall construction, and to vastly increase serf worker visas.<\/p>\n<p>None of this should surprise anyone who would question the authenticity of his \u201clock the door\u201d policy, as The Daily Signal\u2019s Emily Medeiros <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2026\/07\/16\/talarico-border-security-voting-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported that Talarico\u2019s voting record<\/a> in the Texas State Legislature revealed Talarico as an implacable oppositionist to every meaningful piece of border security legislation.<\/p>\n<p>The absence of negative consequences for almost every illegal entrant, combined with an unlocked door opened wide, leaves only the welcome mat. That, stripping away his misdirecting, disingenuous rhetoric, is what Talarico is really about.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Todd Bensman is a senior research fellow for the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation. Before joining Heritage in July 2026, Bensman served the Trump administration as senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (ICE Office of Director) and the intelligence community as a National Counterterrorism Center detailee, where he served senior leadership on priority policy matters related to enforcing both legal and illegal immigration, southern border security, and the counter-cartel campaigns. Follow him on X <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BensmanTodd\">@BensmanTodd.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Talarico\u2019s border plan: open or secure?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":635,"featured_media":2644265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-2026-08-12T154854.445.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[3620,84081,3813,84082,68501],"class_list":["post-2644264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-biden","tag-border","tag-immigration","tag-migrantcrisis","tag-talarico"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-2026-08-12T154854.445.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2644264"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2644268,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2644264\/revisions\/2644268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2644265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2644264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2644264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2644264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}