Decriminalizing illegal immigration and 3 other 'radical' ideas in Julián Castro's new immigration plan


Julián Castro, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, has largely flown under the radar in the early stages of the primary. But the former Housing Secretary under the Obama administration, whose grandmother emigrated from Mexico to the United States in the 1920s, unveiled a "People First" immigration platform on Tuesday with some hard policy points that could create some shock waves.
Here are four key ideas from Castro's "radical" proposal.
Decriminalize all immigration — Castro writes that in 2005, the Bush administration decided to charge those crossing the border illegally with criminal charges rather than civil ones. Castro would reverse this, decriminalizing immigration and instead treating each case as a civil one.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Central American "Marshall Plan" — Castro also called for a "21st century Marshall Plan" for Central America, predicting investments in the region would help stabilize and decrease violence in the nations that are currently major drivers of migration to the United States. He also writes that such a plan would boost U.S. economic growth. The Trump administration recently cut aid funding to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
Splitting ICE in half — As opposed to abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Castro would reconstitute it, leaving national security measures such as human and drug traffic and anti-terrorism units within the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration enforcement, then, would be reassigned to other agencies to "increase oversight and raise standards."
End the three and ten-year bars — Castro would also seek to do away with re-entry rules for undocumented individuals who leave the U.S. and want to re-enter legally. Currently, those who accrue more than 180 days of "unlawful presence" in the U.S. are barred from re-entry for three years, while those accrue more than one year cannot return for ten. Read Castro's full post on Medium.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’
Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens
Feature A permanent new museum
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies