Jace Yarbrough, a Republican congressman-elect from Texas, is due to take office on Jan. 3. He plans to push for major immigration restrictions and defend what he calls America’s “Christian heritage,” though he is doubtful Democrats, who will control both chambers, will be interested in working with him.
Yarbrough said he opposes mass migration and would consider “stopping immigration altogether for a time because of how insane this has gotten.” He argued that the country is admitting too many people, including some he characterized as anti-American or linked to international terrorist groups.
He also said he would support repealing the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, which ended the national-origins quota system. That earlier system favored immigrants from Northern and Western Europe and sharply limited immigration from Asia, Africa and other regions.
Rather than bringing back those quotas, Yarbrough said he favors a merit-based approach. Most green cards are currently issued through family sponsorship, while a smaller portion go to people based on employment qualifications and skills.
“You have to justify why it is that you are going to make our country stronger,” he said. Applicants, he added, should show that they want to join the country and “forswear allegiance to your old country.”
Yarbrough also raised concerns about Sharia, the Islamic legal system, which he described as incompatible with American values.
“We’re not thoughtful about whether or not certain cultures are compatible with ours,” he said. As a member of Congress, he said, his role would be to stand up for the country and speak openly about its history.
Asked what he meant by the “Islamification of Texas,” a phrase he has used before, Yarbrough pointed to a lawsuit filed last year by the East Plano Islamic Center, a mosque in North Texas near the district he will represent.
He said the mosque sued Christian street preachers who were sharing their faith on public sidewalks nearby, calling the dispute an example of what he views as anti-American, Sharia-supremacist conduct and ideology.
In October 2025, the mosque sued Testimonies of God, a Texas Baptist ministry. The lawsuit alleged that ministry members used microphones and bullhorns to interfere with Friday prayers, violating the city’s noise rules. Videos shared by the ministry show members preaching near the mosque over several months.
Police records indicate officers responded to a trespassing complaint at the mosque in May, but do not identify anyone involved or say whether a citation was issued. A judge dismissed the mosque’s case in March under Texas’ anti-SLAPP law. The mosque appealed, and the case is still pending.
Yarbrough’s criticism echoes claims made by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has accused the mosque of trying to establish a community governed by Sharia law.
Abbott lost his re-election race to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Yarbrough, meanwhile, won just over 51% of the vote, flipping a seat previously held by a Democrat even as Republicans suffered broad losses nationally.
His win followed a 2025 redistricting plan that changed the 32nd District from a Democratic stronghold to a Republican-leaning seat, adding several conservative rural counties east of Dallas.
Yarbrough credited his victory to his firm support for the “America First” agenda. He said Republicans should not moderate their positions in response to the party’s poor midterm results.
He acknowledged that some younger constituents were frustrated by the Iran war, including because of its contribution to rising gas prices.
“I didn’t run away from any of the policy convictions of the America First movement,” he said, adding that the message had connected with voters in a district where Republicans managed to hold a seat and gain one.
Yarbrough is a Stanford-educated lawyer who served four years on active duty in the Air Force before joining the reserves in 2015. He is now a major and spends about five weeks each year serving with Space Systems Command at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
He said his decision to run for office was driven in part by a sense that the military and the institutions where he studied and worked as a lawyer had become increasingly hostile to conservative values.
Yarbrough also said the consequences of declining the COVID-19 vaccine, on what he called his doctor’s “strong advice,” helped steer him toward politics. According to him, the Air Force formally reprimanded him. He said he left the Texas law firm Baker Botts the day before its vaccine policy took effect, because he would otherwise have been unable to enter the office without proof of vaccination.
“The left just kept coming after me,” he said. “I finally decided, well, if they’re not going to leave me alone, then upon evaluation, maybe it’s my job to go and fight to make them stop.”
At a candidate forum in February, Yarbrough said he had “no interest in representing Democrats” while discussing his opposition to workplace vaccine mandates introduced during the pandemic.
Asked about the remark, he said he would represent everyone in his district, whether they had voted for him or not. He suggested that many Texans who voted for Democrats were Republicans dissatisfied with their own party, rather than supporters of the progressive policies he considers extreme.
As he prepares to take office, Yarbrough said he does not expect to find much common ground with House Democrats, who will set the chamber’s legislative agenda for the next two years.
He predicted Democrats would focus on using their power to pursue members of the first family and the administration. Still, he said he would work with anyone willing to put American citizens’ interests first.
