James Talarico's church houses illegal immigrant, minister says; Paxton responds
A minister at the longtime Texas congregation of Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico says the church is a “sanctuary church” that houses someone who is in the United States illegally, prompting his Republican opponent to claim the church "harbors illegals."
In the video released Monday by the conservative outlet Texas Scorecard, Rev. Carol Johnson, identified as a minister at the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in North Austin, appeared to state that an illegal immigrant has lived at the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) congregation for years.
After describing St. Andrew’s as “not a belief-based church, [but] a values-based church” with a theological focus on the Sermon on the Mount, Johnson added that St. Andrew’s has "stood up for [LGBT] rights forever, and racial justice and we have immigration stuff.”
EXCLUSIVE: Undercover footage shows a minister at James Talarico’s "Sanctuary church" admitting to harboring an illegal alien from Guatemala.
— Brandon Waltens (@bwaltens) September 21, 2026
“We don’t have a lot of people who are religious here.”
“We’re not a belief-based church.” pic.twitter.com/p5zKZvItec
She continued: “We actually have a person living in our church who is from Venezuela — no, Guatemala — and he has lived here for 8 years. So we are a sanctuary church.”
While Texas law does not prohibit persons in the U.S. illegally from renting or living in a home, some landlords require proof of legal residency or a Social Security Number, which many illegal immigrants are unlikely to possess.
In the state of Texas, undocumented immigrants are generally not legally allowed to work unless they have obtained work authorization through programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or other programs.
The Christian Post reached out to both Talarico’s campaign and St. Andrew’s for comment Tuesday. PCUSA did not respond to a request for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
In the video, Johnson, who is listed as the minister for Welcome & Invitation at St. Andrew’s, also described the church as “anti-empire." She said that after the Holy Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its official state religion, “Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount just went out the window, and it became all about beliefs and whether you believe the right thing."
“So we don’t spend time on that later stuff,” she added. “We don’t spend time on creeds. … We focus on the Sermon on the Mount.”
The video quickly drew a sharp response from Talarico’s Republican U.S. Senate opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In a post on X on Monday evening, Paxton wrote: “James Talarico is lying to Texans. His ‘home’ church harbors illegals, hangs a trans flag over the cross, and a minister there says most members are atheist. Talarico can try to rebrand himself, but Texans deserve to know the truth.”
According to a 2020 NPR report, Guatemalan nationals Hilda and Ivan Ramirez took up residence at the Austin church over 4.5 years earlier to avoid arrest and deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
They came to the U.S. to escape from an abusive relative, but their asylum application was denied during the Obama administration. Instead of leaving the U.S., they took residence in the Sunday school wing of St. Andrew's.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is also listed as an “active” member of the Austin Sanctuary Network, a coalition of churches, faith groups, immigrants and other community members in Austin that “support immigrants fleeing violence or in danger of deportation.”
On its website, PCUSA cites the Bible for its support for families at risk of separation due to illegal immigration:
“Throughout history, the people of God have provided safe space in their places of worship for those vulnerable under the laws and customs of the time. The Hebrew people had cities of refuge for people wrongfully accused of crimes. In the years before the American Civil War, congregations provided safety for slaves fleeing the South in the Underground Railroad. In the 1980s, more than 500 U.S. congregations provided safe houses to Central Americans fleeing civil war but whom our government refused to acknowledge as refugees.
“Today, churches are providing sanctuary to people with final orders of deportation. Law-abiding parents and workers caught in the clutches of a broken immigration system are entering houses of worship to fight their orders of deportation. Congregations are standing with families at risk of separation.”
Talarico, a lifelong member of the increasingly liberal PCUSA, has made his status as a seminarian a key part of his political persona, but has drawn intense scrutiny for his theological views since securing his U.S. Senate primary victory in March.
In May, Talarico backtracked on his assertions that many deemed especially fringe or heretical, such as his statement during a 2021 legislative debate that "God is non-binary" and that biological sex exists on a "nuanced spectrum."
