Democrat James Talarico Absent for Texas Vote on Bail Denial for Illegal Immigrants Charged with Violent Felonies

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico faces criticism for missing a key vote on a Texas bill that would automatically deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with violent felonies. The bill, named Jocelyn’s Law after slain Houston preteen Jocelyn Nungaray, failed in the Texas House in 2025 due to lack of bipartisan support.

Talarico, a member of the Texas House, was absent for the final vote on the measure, which sought to add a constitutional amendment barring bail in such cases. Earlier, he voted against killing two amendments that would have exempted immigrants on humanitarian parole, orders of supervision, pending green card applications, protections as trafficking or Violence Against Women Act victims, visa extension applications, deferred action or Temporary Protected Status.

The criticism comes as Talarico campaigns for U.S. Senate in Texas, a state heavily affected by crimes linked to illegal immigrants. Nungaray, 12, was sexually assaulted and strangled in a Houston neighborhood in June 2024, allegedly by two Venezuelan illegal immigrants, Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against them in the capital murder case.

Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, called Talarico's absence disgusting. "It is disgusting that James Talarico is letting his anti-American agenda show by siding with a violent illegal over a Texas family," Kraft said. He told Fox News Digital that Talarico’s stance proves his priority is criminals, not the safety of Texans.

JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, defended him. "James is a law and order Democrat who supports prosecuting violent felons, and has a proven track record voting for tighter bail laws for violent offenders and voting repeatedly to increase funding for Texas police," Ennis said. Ennis added that while incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and their billionaire backers lie about James’ record, he will continue standing up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system.

The two suspects had been encountered by U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, earlier in 2024 but were released on their own recognizance under the Biden administration. The murder occurred months after their illegal entry. Data from the House Homeland Security Committee showed more than 10.8 million border encounters and roughly two million known gotaways by the end of the Biden administration.

Talarico has faced prior accusations of being soft on crime and supporting defund the police efforts, which he calls a flat-out lie. In the Texas House, he voted against the Damon Allen Act, which restricted bail for certain offenders in honor of slain Texas state trooper Damon Allen, killed by a career criminal out on bail. In 2021, he also opposed a constitutional amendment to deny bail for those accused of violent sexual offenses or trafficking.

On immigration, Talarico drew fire for calling undocumented immigrants "undocumented Americans" in 2019 and saying they are also his constituents. In material from United We Dream, an activist group seeking to abolish ICE and Customs and Border Protection, Talarico advised against opening doors to federal immigration agents, signing documents without an attorney and to fight back.