Julián Castro seemed to mess up big-time answering an immigration question during a Fox News town hall on Thursday.
The Democratic presidential candidate was asked a question about immigration from a woman who had her identity stolen by an illegal immigrant.
“He was caught and then released on his own recognizance, never to be heard from again,” she said to Castro. “My question is, would you be willing to penalize offenders taking advantage of Americans by having them not released if they’re known to be illegal?”
Julián Castro began his answer by making an excuse for the man’s actions. “Let me begin to answer that question by saying, look, all of us know as human beings that regardless of circumstance, whether people are rich, or poor, no matter the color of their skin, what their background is, that people commit crime. Crime happens,” said Castro.
While Castro did admit the man should’ve been punished for his crimes, he diverted to talking about illegal immigrants being detained while trying to cross the southern border.
“What I don’t believe is that we should be incarcerating these women and children who are fleeing desperate circumstances in those countries and simply are looking for a better life, and then we’re keeping them in cages like animals, and keeping these men in 100 degree heat, underneath a bridge, they’re fenced in like animals, like a dog pound basically.” He said.
“I believe that we’re better than that as Americans. And so, of course, we need to enforce those laws, whether it’s identity theft or it’s more serious crimes. I’ve said that very clearly.” He continued.
Julián Castro received backlash from conservatives on social media, questioning his rhetoric when it came to immigration. Here are some post from Twitter:
