Texas Dems in Senate Fight Liken ICE
to Nazi Secret Police and Iran Leaders
Capitol Inside
January 24, 2026
Democratic U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett portrayed ICE agents as rogue cops in a modern-day Gestapo on Saturday when she and State Rep. James Talarico endorsed a dramatic overhaul of the federal immigration enforcement at a debate for the U.S. Senate race just hours after the latest shooting death of an American citizen in Minnesota.
The Dallas congressional member wasted no time seizing on the killing of Alex Pretti earlier Saturday by border patrol officers in Minneapolis when she and Talarico squared off on the stage at the event that the Texas AFL-CIO hosted in Georgetown with moderators from the Dallas Morning News and the NBC affiliate in Austin KXAN-TV.
Crockett likened federal agents tactics to those that were used for rounding up Jewish people in Germany when Adolph Hitler controlled the country before and during World War II. “They are turning us into Nazi Germany by saying they’re going to go door to door. They are going after people because of their accent or the color of their skin because this Supreme Court gave them carte blanche ability to do so.”
But the harsh appraisal of the federal immigration agency crackdown in the North Star State wasn't a point for debate at the event in Dallas where Talarico was clearly on the same page with his chief primary rival in the fight for the Senate seat that Republican John Cornyn is seeking again in 2026.
Talarico, a state representative in the Austin area since 2019, compared the ICE actions in Minnesota to the mass killing of protesters by the Iranian government in response to a question about the possible use of the U.S. military in Iran. “We can have discussions about how to respond in Iran, where we have seen so many innocent civilians, protesters murdered on their streets," Talarico said. "We’re also seeing that in Minnesota as we speak.”
Crockett said she would back whatever it would to rein in the nation's immigration police when asked whether she would support the abolishment of ICE. Talarico suggested the time had come to rebuild the federal agency from the ground up.
“ICE shot a mother in the face. ICE kidnapped a 5-year-old boy. ICE executed a man in broad daylight on our streets just this morning,” Talarico asserted. “It’s time to tear down this secret police force and replace it with an agency that actually is going to focus on public safety.”
Talarico and Crockett are competing for the Democratic nomination in the Senate competition in a field that has runoff potential with a third contender in Ahmad Hassan of Katy. The Democratic Senate contenders are rooting for Attorney General Ken Paxton in a bid to oust Cornyn in the Republican primary election on March 3. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston is running for the Senate in the GOP primary as well - and he's been getting a sufficient amount of support in polling on the race to force a runoff if the incumbent and AG are still running close by the time the ballots are cast less than six weeks from now.
Polls have shown that Crocket and Talarico would have both have a near-even shot at winning in November if Paxton is the GOP nominee. Both of the Democratic frontrunners have trailed Cornyn by several points in hypothetical general election pairings.
Talarico argued that the U.S. and Texas should go 180 degrees in the way they perceive border security. “Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door,” Talarico said. “We can welcome immigrants who want to live the American dream. We can build a pathway to citizenship for those neighbors who have been here, making us richer and stronger, and we can keep out people who mean to do us harm.”
Crockett offered the more frightening assessment of the nation's leadership under President Donald Trump. She said the president was “seemingly trying to plunge us not only into a civil war with ICE, but he’s also trying to plunge us into World War III.”
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