A plan by Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro would extend legal rights and eventually citizenship to many of those people illegally living in the United States, The Washington Free Beacon is reporting.
And the Free Beacon said Castro’s proposal also would make enforcement of immigrant law substantially more difficult.
Writing on Medium, Castro said: “… we need to repair our existing legal immigration system because the most effective way to secure the border is to ensure that our legal immigration policy works for people.
“We need a pathway to full and equal citizenship for the 11 million people living here peacefully, and contributing to our culture and our economy. We must protect Dreamers and their parents, and folks under protected status who fled natural disasters, persecution, or violence. We need to revamp the visa system and end the backlog of people who are waiting to reunite with their families.”
The Beacon said Castro’s plan would dismantle immigration detention for all but the most serious cases. The website said the plan would require all those apprehended at the border to appear in immigration court rather than being returned to their counties.
Castro also called for a reorganization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Additionally, it’s time we reconstitute Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and split the agency in half — keeping national security functions such as human and drug trafficking and anti-terrorism investigations within the Department of Homeland Security, and reassigning the enforcement functions to other agencies as appropriate to increase oversight and raise standards,” he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.