Julian Castro on Immigration Democratic Presidential Challenger (withdrawn); former HUD Secretary

We're not going to give up DACA, or any protections

Joe BIDEN: What Latinos should look at is comparing [Obama policy to Trump policy]. We didn't lock people up in cages. We didn't separate families. [Obama] came along with the DACA program. No one had ever done that before. [Obama] wanted to find a pathway for the 11 million undocumented. This is a president who's done a great deal.

CASTRO: My problem with Vice President Biden is every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, he says, oh, I was there, and every time somebody questions part of the administration that we were both part of, he says, well, that was the president. I was the first candidate to put forward an immigration plan. We're not going to give up DACA. We're not going to give up protections for anybody.

Must decriminalize border crossing to stop family separation

V.P.Biden: If you cross the border illegally, you should be able to be sent

Always for secure border and apprehending criminals

CASTRO: I talked about people who committed serious crimes, dangerous criminals. If there are people who have committed serious felonies in the United States who are immigrants or who come to the border, I have always consistently said that those people should be apprehended, that they should be deported. I haven't changed that at all. I don't have an issue with maintaining a secure border. What I have an issue with is separating little children from their parents.

Independent immigration courts will speed up asylum process

Can't take in everyone seeking asylum but can do more

Supports L.A. & Chicago in non-cooperation with ICE

CASTRO: Yes, I would, because I believe that local law enforcement should do its job, and federal law enforcement has its own job to do. So, I'm glad to see that Los Angeles and Chicago are doing that.

No to "open borders"; increase number of refugees admitted

Get rid of metering asylum applicants at the border

A: Watching that image of Oscar and his daughter, Valeria, is heartbreaking. It should also piss us all off. If I were president today, I would sign an executive order that would get rid of Trump's zero-tolerance policy, the remain in Mexico policy, and this metering policy is basically what prompted Oscar and Valeria to make that risky swim across the river. They had been playing games with people who are coming and trying to seek asylum at our ports of entry. On day one, I would do that executive order that would address metering. And then I would follow that up in my first 100 days with immigration reform that would honor asylum claims, that would put undocumented immigrants, as long as they haven't committed a serious crime, on a pathway to citizenship.

Get rid of section 1325: stop criminalizing desperation

Decriminalizing illegal crossings is way we used to do this

Castro: We already have another legal mechanism to do that. I'm talking about repealing Section 1325 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which simply refers to people who cross the border. Between 1929 and the early 2000s, we actually treated it as a civil violation. This is not something radical. If somebody comes here, and they are doing human trafficking or drug trafficking, we have laws that we can charge them with.

I'm disappointed in Congressman O'Rourke's stance, because the only way that we're going to effectively make sure that we're not separating little children from their families is to repeal Section 1325. I would absolutely go back to the way that we used to treat this. That would be more effective, smarter and more humane.

Decriminalizing border crossings won't apply to smuggling

Rep. Beto O'ROURKE: I don't know if it should be repealed, but I think that we should acknowledge that most of those who are arriving at our border right now pose no threat or harm to this country. But if somebody is attempting to smuggle human beings or illegal drugs into this country, I want to make sure that we have the legal mechanism necessary to detain them.

CASTRO: We already have another legal mechanism to do that. I'm talking about repealing Section 1325 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which simply refers to people who cross the border. Between 1929 and the early 2000s, we actually treated it as a civil violation. This is not something radical. If somebody comes here, and they are doing human trafficking or drug trafficking, we have laws that we can charge them with. I'm not suggesting that we let those people off the hook.

Don't separate kids and families; don't jail asylum seekers

Current "merit" system says only certain people have merit

Reverse Muslim ban; Marshall Plan for Central America

Castro wants an overhaul of the pathway to citizenship for immigrants, especially for DACA recipients. He criticized a policy shift under President George W. Bush that allows immigrants to be charged in the criminal court rather than civil. Castro wants to split ICE in half, and keep "national security functions such as human and drug trafficking and anti-terrorism investigations within the Department of Homeland Security."

Asylum seekers have the right to be heard

I don't believe the narrative that people who are coming to our southern border, these families, women and children, that they represent a threat to our country. We should choose compassion even as we maintain a secure border. When it comes to our DREAMers and it comes to other undocumented immigrants, I believe in a pathway to citizenship. That includes not only DREAMers, but people with temporary protected status, whom this president has put a target on their back.

Treat immigration as civil, not criminal, issue

We can have compassion AND border security

Against funding border wall

Compassion for refugees, pathway for those here

Secure the border by using technology, not a wall

• Immigration, ICE and the border: Allow a path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants. "Reconstitute" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Castro supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States.
• Castro opposes Trump's border wall plan, and instead has proposed securing the border by using technology and a more efficient legal immigration process.
• When asked if he thinks ICE should be abolished, as some Democrats argued in the run-up to the 2018 midterms, Castro told Bustle he thinks the agency needs to change its culture and be "reconstituted."

Support comprehensive immigration reform

Castro said afterward that he cited as examples H-E-B, which operates 36 Mexico stores, and Valero Energy Corp.'s dealings with Mexico's government-owned energy company, Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX. Castro said he told Calderon that Texas has "a better approach to immigration policy than other hard-line states. I said, 'We have a more reasoned approach that can provide a better opportunity for a compromise'" on U.S. immigration reform.