On the Campaign Trail:
Julian Castro, former cabinet secretary and mayor, has made a detailed immigration reform program the center of his presidential bid. It is his only well-defined foreign policy position. Only fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke has prioritized immigration so highly.
Border Security: Decriminalize the Undocumented
Immigration: People-First
The Texas Tribune says:
Castro’s People First Immigration Policy, which comes 10 months before the first votes are cast in the 2020 primary, offers a few ideas that are commonplace among Democratic candidates, like reversing President Donald Trump’s travel ban and providing a pathway to citizenship for people in the country illegally. But in many other areas, the proposal goes much farther than other contenders have gone, thrilling advocates who have been waiting to see which White House hopeful would be first out of the gate with such a detailed proposal.
Otherwise, Castro’s views on issues of war and peace are hard to discern. What he has said reflect the Washington consensus represented in Clinton-Bush-Obama foreign policy.
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On NATO: ‘Alliances Have Kept Us Safer’
“I believe that today the greatest threat to our national security is the fact that this president … is damaging the relationships that we have had in place since the post-World War II era, whether its NATO or other alliances with individual countries that have kept us safer. The first thing that I would do if I were president with regard to our relationships around the world is to strengthen them because those alliances have helped keep us safe.”
Source: ABC News
On Russian Election Interference:
On Venezuela: No Comment
When Huffington Post asked Castro’s campaign for comment on the situation in Venezuela, the campaign did not respond.
On Iraq:
In the Eyes of ‘the Blob’ and the Secret Intelligence Agencies:
As a former cabinet secretary who has expressed few qualms about U.S. foreign policy in the last 20 years, President Castro could probably work with the policymaking elites, intelligence chiefs, and military leaders.
Research: Daniel Ortiz
Return to Insider’s Guide to the 2020 Democrats on War and Peace
