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.“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.