Candidate Marty Lancton Must Explain His Support for Open Borders Unions and Politicians

In September, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced that she will not seek reelection in the state’s largest county. Democrat Hidalgo’s record on the issue of border security and immigration enforcement is one of the worst of any county in Texas, including proposing a dedicated legal defense fund and a universal basic income scheme for illegal aliens.

Citizens in Harris County might breathe a sigh of relief after she announced she would not seek re-election as county judge, but a major contender for her seat has a record that shows he might follow in her footsteps—putting illegal aliens ahead of American citizens.

Houston Fire Fighters Association President Patrick “Marty” Lancton is running for Harris County Judge as a Republican. However, a close examination of Lancton’s record suggests that he may continue Hidalgo’s lax stance on illegal immigration.

In addition to being head of the firefighters union, Lancton has served on the board of the Texas AFL-CIO since 2018. This federation of labor unions frequently supports Democrat lawmakers and lobbies both Congress and the Texas Legislature. This year the organization released a scorecard of the Texas House and Texas Senate that gave some of our state’s strongest leaders in the fight to end illegal immigration and put Americans First failing grades.

A review of the AFL-CIO’s activities shows that the group actively worked against border security and illegal labor enforcement in the halls of the Texas Capitol.

This session, under Lancton’s leadership, the Texas AFL-CIO vocally opposed the strongest immigration enforcement measure passed by the Texas legislature: SB 8 by Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown). This bill requires all county sheriffs who operate or contract a jail to participate in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) program, which delegates limited federal immigration authority to state and local law enforcement officers who are trained by ICE. The Texas AFL-CIO described this measure as an “anti-immigrant agreement between ICE and county sheriffs.”

In contrast, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance stated during the 2024 presidential campaign that the expanded role of state and local law enforcement was vital to accomplishing their deportation goals. The 2024 Republican Party of Texas Platform states, “The Texas Legislature should prioritize legislation to require all law enforcement entities within the state to participate in the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 287(g) program.”

Lancton’s AFL-CIO gave Schwertner a grade of 13% on their scorecard. Meanwhile Democrat lawmakers who supported giving discounted college tuition to illegal aliens like State Sens. Carol Alvorado and Borris Miles received perfect scores of 100%.

And that’s just their legislative advocacy. While ICE officers were assaulted by ANTIFA and other radicals this summer, the Texas AFL-CIO passed resolutions condemning ICE and urged local unions to coordinate rapid response actions in the case of immigration raids at its constitutional convention in June. They’ve also distributed “Know Your Rights” cards to help illegal aliens avoid deportation.

Does Lancton support these activities? He continues to serve on the AFL-CIO’s board of directors and has thus far been silent on specifics, but his personal donations show he may be inclined to support them.

In 2024, he donated to the campaign of State Representative Mary Ann Perez (D-Houston). Perez has a long history of opposition to immigration enforcement measures, including voting against SB 8 this session. She has also opposed bills to stop China and other hostile nations from buying Texas land, penalize illegal entry into our state from Mexico, and additional border security funding.

The citizens of Harris County deserve a county judge who will depart from the support of lawlessness and lax immigration enforcement that characterized the Hidalgo administration. Texans for Strong Borders urges Marty Lancton to clarify his positions on all of these measures and distance himself from the Texas AFL-CIO’s dangerous Open Borders rhetoric and advocacy.