The U.S. Border Patrol is presently confronting illegal immigration at the highest rates since 2007, and could potentially apprehend one million illegal aliens by the end of this year alone. With our immigration system and border agents at a breaking point, Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro unveiled a “People First” immigration plan that is the dream of every radical, open border activist.
The plan represents his first major proposal since entering the presidential sweepstakes in January and solidifies his position among the radical open borders crowd. Laid out in a blog post in Medium, Castro says there is a need to “repair our existing legal immigration system” by reversing limits on refugee programs and then providing a “pathway to full and equal citizenship” for 11 million illegal aliens presently living in the U.S., a conservative estimate of the current illegal population.
But the former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary doubles and triples down on amnesty by proposing to give protection to the beneficiaries of Obama’s unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and their parents. That is a bridge that even sponsors of the current amnesty plans introduced in Congress have not explicitly sought.
So, when DHS data show more than 76,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in February alone, Castro thinks it makes complete sense to give amnesty to the approximately 699,350 DACA beneficiaries living in the U.S. as of August 31, 2018 – and, assuming both illegal alien parents are here too, another 1,400,000 non-citizens?
But why stop there? Castro wants “protected status” for anyone who “fled natural disasters, persecution, or violence,” which means amnesty for estimated 437,000 foreign nationals who’ve been granted Temporary Permanent Status (TPS) and the 4,000 Liberians who just had their Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status extended at a time when on average more than 2,000 illegal aliens are being apprehended or have been deemed inadmissible every day at the Southern border.
A mass amnesty is not sufficiently generous (or reckless), so the former San Antonio mayor contemplates revamping the visa system in order to end the backlog of people who are waiting to reunite with their families.”
No one who is the slightest bit interested in strengthening – or even having – borders would support Castro’s nonsense. But those whose priorities lie with erasing meaningful borders, are delighted.
Frank Sharry, the president of the pro-amnesty America’s Voice, tweeted his delight, saying Castro is “first out of the gate with a thoughtful set of ideas and stands on immigration and refugees” that “integrates humane and workable policies with smart enforcement priorities.”
Likewise, Simon Rosenberg of the liberal think tank New Democrat Network called it a “welcome offering” and encouraged Democrats “to be far more forceful in countering Trump’s failed, incompetent and reckless immigration approach.
There was a time when radical open borders policies were simply ignored or laughed off by mainstream Democrats, but the pendulum has swung far left in the party.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has described the immigration crisis as a “Cat 5 hurricane disaster,” and it would get even worse if Julian Castro gets his way.