Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas said Saturday that he hopes his party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, state Rep. James Talarico, reconsiders comments suggesting the southern border should resemble a “giant welcome mat” for migrants.
Cuellar made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News’ “Saturday in America,” where host Kayleigh McEnany asked whether he agreed with Talarico’s comments about border policy.
“No, of course I don’t,” Cuellar responded.
“I hope I spend some time with him and get him to change the situation at the border,” Cuellar added. “And I live at the border, I just don’t go visit the border.”
Cuellar, who represents a district along the U.S.–Mexico border, emphasized that he supports stronger enforcement while still backing legal immigration.
“We want to see law and order at the border,” he said. “We need to make sure that we control our borders but still be respectful of legal immigration.”
Talarico’s remarks came during a Democratic primary debate against fellow Texas Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett earlier this year.
“Our southern border should be like our front porch,” Talarico said during the January debate. “There should be a giant ‘welcome’ mat out front and a lock on the door.”
Talarico went on to defeat Crockett by about six percentage points in the Democratic primary.
Cuellar, considered one of the more moderate Democrats in Congress, frequently breaks with his party on immigration enforcement issues. His district is roughly 75 percent Hispanic and was carried by President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
During the Fox News interview, Cuellar pointed to his own family’s immigration story as an example of legal migration.
“My parents were born in Mexico. My father became a legal resident and a naturalized citizen,” Cuellar said. “He did it the right way like a lot of Americans did.”
“But we cannot have open borders,” he continued. “We’ve seen that under the Biden administration. It was a mistake and it will be a mistake to have open borders.”
The interview also touched on a recent House vote involving funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
McEnany noted that Cuellar was among a small group of Democrats who broke with their party to support funding the agency during a vote aimed at preventing a partial government shutdown.
Cuellar joined Democratic Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine, and Don Davis of North Carolina in voting to keep DHS funded.
All four represent districts that were carried by Trump in the 2024 election.
Asked what it would take to convince more Democrats to support funding for the department, Cuellar said lawmakers must focus on broader national security concerns.
“Bottom line is there has to be some oversight or rail guards on ICE,” Cuellar said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“But nevertheless, we’ve got to look at the big picture and we cannot have the Department of Homeland Security not be funded at this time.”
