- Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) launched a Faith Advisory Council on March 10, 2026, as part of his evangelical outreach effort ahead of a May Republican primary runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
- Three council members — Dr. Jack Graham, pastor Max Lucado, and Dr. Gus Reyes — are affiliated with the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), a group that advocates for chain migration and pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
- The EIT is a project of the National Immigration Forum (NIF), which received millions in funding from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and used the NIF as a financial pass-through to spread pro-mass immigration messaging among evangelical communities.
- Ali Noorani, who led the National Immigration Forum from 2008 to 2022, publicly praised Cornyn in 2021 for sponsoring amnesty legislation, highlighting the senator’s longstanding alignment with open-borders advocacy.
- Graham and Lucado are also signatories to the EIT’s “Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform,” which explicitly calls for chain migration policies and a citizenship pathway for those in the country illegally.
- This is not Cornyn’s first controversy over immigration group ties — video previously surfaced of him praising LULAC, a left-leaning organization that has fought Texas sanctuary city bans, backed abortion advocacy, and helped illegal immigrants resist federal deportation efforts.
- The revelations raise serious questions about Cornyn’s credibility on immigration enforcement among conservative Texas voters, particularly as he faces Paxton — a Trump-aligned candidate — in what is shaping up to be a defining primary battle.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), facing a Republican primary runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, unveiled a Faith Advisory Council this week touted as an outreach effort to evangelical Christian voters. However, several pastors named to the council have longstanding ties to a George Soros-funded organization that has pushed refugee resettlement, chain migration, and pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The council was announced Tuesday, March 10, 2026.
Soros-Linked Group at the Center
Three members of Cornyn’s new Faith Advisory Council — Dr. Jack Graham, pastor Max Lucado, and Dr. Gus Reyes — are affiliated with the Evangelical Immigration Table (EIT), a group that advocates for sweeping immigration reforms framed in religious language. Graham and Lucado are also signatories to the EIT’s “Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform,” a document that calls for family unification policies (commonly known as chain migration) and a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the country illegally.
The EIT is a project of the National Immigration Forum (NIF), an open-borders advocacy organization that received substantial funding from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. The NIF served as a financial pass-through for millions of dollars in Soros money directed toward advancing pro-mass immigration messaging among evangelical church communities.
Ali Noorani, who led the National Immigration Forum from 2008 to 2022, publicly praised Cornyn in 2021 for sponsoring amnesty legislation, calling the senator’s move a positive development for broader immigration reform efforts.
Cornyn’s Statement
“As our state and nation are in turbulent times, we need leaders who serve with principle, wisdom, and integrity,” the Cornyn campaign said in announcing the council. The statement added that “a key element to principled leadership is who a leader consults when confronting complex problems” — an ironic framing, given the immigration track record of several advisers named to the group.
A Pattern of Pro-Open Borders Associations
The Faith Advisory Council revelation is not the first time Cornyn’s connections to immigration advocacy groups have drawn scrutiny from the right. Last July, a video surfaced of the senator offering praise for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a left-leaning organization that has consistently opposed immigration enforcement measures.
LULAC filed suit against Texas in 2017 over legislation signed by Governor Greg Abbott that ended sanctuary city policies statewide. The group has also aligned itself with abortion advocacy, DEI programs, and affirmative action — and has actively educated illegal immigrants on legal strategies to obstruct federal deportation efforts.
Primary Context
Cornyn is heading into a May runoff election against Ken Paxton after neither candidate secured an outright majority in the Republican primary. Recent polling has shown Paxton performing competitively regardless of whether former President Donald Trump weighs in with an endorsement. The Faith Advisory Council appears to be part of Cornyn’s broader effort to consolidate support among socially conservative Texas voters ahead of that contest.
Critics on the right argue that staffing such a council with figures tied to Soros-funded immigration advocacy undermines the senator’s credibility on one of the defining issues of the current political moment — and raises questions about where Cornyn truly stands on border security and immigration enforcement.
