Although he’s polling at just 1%, Julian Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, has already made it to the debate floor and is leading the charge on immigration with his People First plan.
His press team released a response to a Washington Post survey indicating that Castro’s immigration plan is setting the standard for the Democratic field.
His press team explained that “Secretary Castro’s plan, among other tenets, called for breaking up Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), investing in ports of entry, increasing the number of refugees, and bolstering aid to Central America through a 21st Century Marshall Plan.”
In comparison to the wide field of Democratic candidates, Castro has set himself up as somebody that has influenced the other candidates to adopt the views that he has advocated for since announcing his Presidential run. On decriminalizing immigration, the press team argued that Senators Booker and Sanders, Mayors Messam and Yang and Rep. Moulton have all adopted the idea, and Rep. Swalwell along with Mayor Buttigieg have agreed to adopt the idea “as part of a compromise.”
In addition, Secretary Castro has called for the repeal of Section 1325 of the Immigration and Nationality Act that “classifies the act of crossing the border as a criminal, rather than civil violation.”
While it is perceived as a radical idea, disbanding ICE has gained traction among Democrats from those who support the idea to those who are open to listening to ideas on reforming the agency.
Fellow Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren praised Secretary Castro during an appearance on MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.
Shortly after, the Senator took to twitter to praise the Secretary’s fight for immigration reform.
.@JulianCastro is right—no person is illegal, and our laws should reflect that. I admire his smart ideas on reforming our immigration laws. We should all pay attention to them. pic.twitter.com/1eAxavd9Yr
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) May 5, 2019
Senator Warren has been a vocal critic of President Trump’s hard line stance on immigration, and she has been leading the charge for House Democrats to begin proceedings on impeaching President Trump.
