James Talarico’s sudden pivot on immigration won’t erase a long record of far-left positions, and Republicans are making that clear as the midterms approach.

James Talarico is lining up a softer message on immigration for the November midterms, but this is a last-minute attempt to paper over a track record Texans are not likely to forget. He is trying to recast himself as more moderate on an issue that decided the last statewide elections in Texas.

In a recent softball interview, he billed himself a “border security Democrat” and even said he had “called out Joe Biden for failing to secure our southern border.” Those lines were designed to shore up skeptical voters and distance him from the national progressive brand he’s carried for years. The sound bite was crisp, but it did not match the public record.

Reporters pressed Talarico’s campaign for any evidence that he had publicly attacked Biden’s border handling, and none was produced. The practical proof shows he has criticized Democrats for being too conservative on immigration in the past, even calling President Barack Obama the “Deporter-in-Chief.” That history undercuts any claim of having been a Biden critic on the border.

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There is plenty of material showing how far left Talarico once stood on immigration. He campaigned for and endorsed Julian Castro during the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and publicly called Castro his “hero.” That endorsement ties Talarico directly to Castro’s open-border ethos.

Castro advocated for decriminalizing border crossings, opposed treating illegal immigration as a national security or criminal issue, and pushed to dismantle border barriers while expanding benefits for those here unlawfully. He backed sweeping amnesty and the release of detained migrants. In fact, Castro was anyone he believed that shouldn’t be allowed into the United States.

Talarico has echoed that tone personally. He has referred to illegal immigrants as “undocumented Americans,” framed them as “his constituents,” and shared material on social media that critics say helped people navigate around federal enforcement. He even suggested that failing to welcome migrants was inconsistent with Christian faith, saying you were not a Christian if you did not accept “the stranger seeking asylum at our southern border.”

He has also attacked enforcement agencies and policies that many Texans credit with restoring order at the border. Talarico labeled ICE a “secret police force that is terrorizing communities,” demanded a “tearing down” of the agency, and has opposed measures to strengthen physical border defenses. Those positions track closely with the open-borders wing of his party.

This combination of endorsement choices, rhetoric, and policy proposals is exactly what Republican strategists warn voters about when they argue that labels don’t change records. A single interview clip does not undo years of public statements, organizing, and endorsements that map clearly to the progressive flank on immigration. Voters watching the flip-flop see inconsistency, not conviction.

With 141 days until the midterms, Talarico faces a tough test: convince Texans he’s shifted while also answering for a long list of radical positions. Republicans are ready to remind voters of that list, and the campaign window to rewrite history is short.