Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro has unveiled a plan to change the act of illegally crossing into the U.S. from a crime to a "civil offense." He was proud to talk about it at Wednesday's Democratic primary debate in Miami.
Once Castro had finished his pitch for the proposal, the moderators asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) for her opinion.
She hesitated.
"I am happy to look at Castro's proposal," she eventually said.
But, she added, you have to make sure there are provisions in place to "go after" the influx of human traffickers rushing into the country and people who are "violating the law."
If she was president, she'd place a much higher focus on what immigration means for the American economy.
"Immigrants ?— they do not diminish America. They are America." Klobuchar begins in her response to being asked by @savannahguthrie if she agrees with Julian Castro that it should no longer be a crime to illegally cross the border #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/VFfe2RBMyL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 27, 2019
For instance, Klobuchar notes that several of our Fortune 500 companies are headed by people who were not born here. The same goes for a bunch of our Nobel laureates.
What's more, "We need workers in our field and in our factories."
If she is able to enforce her plan, which she says will be based off of a 2013 bill that passed with bipartisan support, she pledges it will bring the U.S. debt down by $158 billion. She also noted that it offers a "path to citizenship."
This president, meanwhile, "has gone backwards," Klobuchar alleged.