Former House and Urban Development Sec. Julián Castro made a strong case for decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings, saying that the Trump administration has weaponized certain US law in order to separate thousands of vulnerable families at the southern border.
”My plan also includes getting rid of Section 1325 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” said Castro, the first 2020 Democratic candidate to release a detailed immigration plan, “to go back to the way we used to treat this, when someone comes across the border, not to criminalize desperation, and to treat that as a civil violation—and here’s why that’s important.”
“We see all of this horrendous family separation, they use that law, Section 1325, to justify under the law separating little children from their families,” he continued. Castro noted that so far three candidates onstage with him, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, support this repeal—and more need to join him, for the sake of vulnerable families seeking safety in our nation.
“I want to challenge every single candidate on this stage to support the repeal of Section 1325.”