Castro: Deaths of Asylum-Seeking Dad And Baby Daughter 'Should Piss Us All Off'

Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro said the deaths of a dad and his baby daughter while trying to cross the Rio Grande to seek asylum in the United States is “heartbreaking” — and “should piss us all off.”

In the first of two debates for Democratic presidential candidates on Wednesday, Castro decried the deaths of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria.

“We saw the image of Oscar and Valeria is heartbreaking. It should also piss us all off,” he said.

“If I were president today, I would sign an executive order that would get rid of [President Donald] Trump’s zero tolerance policy and the remain-in-Mexico policy and the metering policy that is basically what prompted Oscar and Valeria to make the risky swim across the river,” he continued.

“They went to a port of entry and they were denied the ability to make a claim so they got frustrated and tried to cross the river and died because of that. On day one I would do that order.”