Castro’s call to decriminalize border crossings sets tone for Democrats, and fuels GOP attacks

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by Bill Lambrecht 8/1/2019

Castro’s call to decriminalize border crossings sets tone for Democrats, and fuels GOP attacks

For two months, Julián Castro’s proposal to end criminal penalties for border crossings lay in a heap of white papers from 2020 Democratic hopefuls, drawing little attention given Castro’s second-tier status in the field.

But since Castro aired the plan with conviction in the first round of Democratic debates a month ago, the proposal has emerged as a flashpoint, separating liberal hopefuls from moderates and fueling the Donald Trump re-election campaign’s drive to brand Democrats as the party of “open borders.”

The rise of Castro’s plan to a central feature of the 2020 immigration debate corresponds with Castro’s own rise, advancing a candidacy that started with no organization and little recent political experience to the cusp of reaching the fall debates in a winnowed field.

The significance of the border criminal penalties issue rose to its apex on Wednesday with an extraordinary exchange between Castro and Joe Biden, who three years ago now had the same boss - Barack Obama.

Castro may have set the trap when introducing his plan, remarking that some on the stage have “taken the bait” from right-wing talking points about “open borders.”

“If you cross the border illegally, you should be able to be sent back. It’s a crime,” Biden said, noting that he hadn’t heard “any of this” in meetings when he was vice president and Castro secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Castro followed with a practiced line recalled in various post-debate analyses. “First of all Mr. Vice President,” Castro said, “It looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one of us hasn’t.”

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