Julian Castro wants citizenship for young immigrants

[rogue emissary]

John C Moritz, Corpus Christi Caller Times Published 8:53 a.m. CT April 2, 2019

Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro says he'd bring 21st century Marshall Plan to revitalize Central America.
– Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro is calling for a path to citizenship for children brought to the United States without documentation and for elimination of what he described as a "for-profit immigration detention industry."

The proposals are part of an immigration plan the former San Antonio mayor and Obama administration cabinet official outlined in an essay posted Tuesday on medium.com.

"The truth is, immigrants seeking refuge in our country aren’t a threat to national security," Castro said in the post. "Migration shouldn’t be a criminal justice issue. It’s time to end this draconian policy and return to treating immigration as a civil — not a criminal  —  issue."

Castro, 44, served two-and-a-half years as secretary of Housing and Urban Development after a five-year stint as mayor of Texas' second-largest city. He is hoping to break loose in a crowded Democratic field for the right to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November 2020.


Beside fellow Texan and former Congressman Beto O'Rourke, Castro's rivals for the nomination include U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Kamala Harris of California, Corey Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand. Former Vice President Joe Biden is also expected to enter the race.

Castro's plan includes:

Ending the three- and 10-year bars that require undocumented immigrants who would otherwise qualify for legal status to first leave the country and return to apply for citizenship.
Modernize ports of entry and ending "outdated detention practices," including hiring private contractors to operate detention centers.
Overhauling Immigration and Customs Enforcement by separating national security functions such as human and drug trafficking and anti-terrorism investigations and "reassigning the enforcement functions to other agencies as appropriate."
Finally, he would restore aid to the Central American countries that Trump recently canceled.

https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/texas/state-bureau/2019/04/02/julian-castro-border-plan-calls-citizenship-young-immigrants/3339961002/

https://link.medium.com/iCCWjkYxyV

Secretary Julián Castro, presidential candidate, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama and Mayor of San Antonio, Texas unveils his ‘People First’ Immigration policy.

“Que dios te bendiga,” my grandmother would bless my brother and me every morning as we left for school, making the sign of the cross in front of us. She immigrated here from Mexico when she was seven years old, and though she passed away many years ago, her influence on me is still strong. As a candidate for President of the United States, her memory guides how I think about many issues — most notably, our immigration policy.

One of my strongest memories of my grandmother is the way she would tell my twin brother, Joaquin, and me about how she came to this country as a child after being separated from her dying mother. Even as a seventy-year-old woman, when she recounted those moments, she would cry like the seven-year-old girl she was when it happened, sobbing that she never got to say goodbye. I see her image in the children at our borders today.

Today, the photos and videos of immigrant children crying for their parents haunt our collective conscience. Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy is responsible for children as young as infants being taken away from their parents, caged, and even “lost” in the foster care system. In federal detention, several immigrant children whose parents have presented their families for the sanctuary of asylum have even died. We are heartbroken. We are outraged. . . .