BREAKING NEWS – Washington, D.C. – 2020 presidential candidate Julián Castro has one of the most liberal platforms in the field on immigration, but in 2013 he strongly backed Obama-era immigration policies and said the notion of “open borders” was too extreme to consider.
But as mayor of San Antonio, Castro lauded the Obama administration’s “enforcement” of immigration law during questioning by House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) on Feb. 5, 2013.
“Do you think that interior enforcement should play a role to discourage future immigration by those not documented by making jobs to them unavailable? Should that be a part of that comprehensive immigration reform?” Goodlatte asked.
“That’s a great question,” Castro said. “I do believe that enforcement, both in terms of active enforcement on our borders—and under this administration there has been tremendous progress with regard to enforcement. In fact, the triggers in the 2007 proposal have just about all been met. But going forward, of course, enforcement is part of the conversation.”
When asked about his comments 6 years ago, Castro stated. “I now I see that securing our southern border in 2013 was wrong. And if Trump agrees with the position I had back then, that shows that he’s a racist. And if he deports anywhere near the record number of Hispanics that Obama deported, that affirms his bigotry. Whether I am making sense or not, numbers don’t lie, even though I often will!”