Beto O'Rourke: 'If immigration is a problem, it's the best possible problem'

Immigration might be a problem, but it's a good one to have, 2020 Democrat Beto O'Rourke said on Thursday.

O'Rourke in his 2020 announcement video mentioned immigration as one of the issues of his campaign, saying that "all of us, wherever you live, can acknowledge that if immigration is a problem, it's the best possible problem for this country to have." The extremely positive take on the issue diverges somewhat from other Democratic candidates, who have said they would seek "smart border security" and "reject" a border wall, but haven't gone quite so far as to open themselves up to the risk that critics will claim they believe illegal immigration is a good thing.

O'Rourke said the U.S. should "ensure that there are lawful paths to work, to be with family, and to flee persecution."

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In the lead-up to his campaign launch, O'Rourke has been somewhat vague about the specifics of his immigration plan; when asked in a Washington Post interview in January what should be done about visa overstays, for example, O'Rourke said, "I don't know," offering one possibility while saying that this is "something that we should be debating." He has, however, made clear that he does not support President Trump's border wall, and he has said he would take down existing barriers in El Paso. Brendan Morrow