How far are Democrats willing to go this year in their efforts to demonstrate their progressive bona fides? In Texas we may be seeing the limits of this swerve to the left on display. Several Democratic candidates for top offices are now pushing a move toward decriminalization, but this time we’re not talking about marijuana. They want to decriminalize illegal immigration, essentially removing the need for most of the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without actually “abolishing” the office. (A subject which doesn’t poll very well.) And we’re not talking about some back bench Democrats running for a county commission seat here. It’s the Democrats’ candidate for Governor, one congressional seat and none other thank Congressman “Beto” O’Rourke, who is currently fighting to flip the Senate seat held by Ted Cruz. (Huffington Post)
It’s time to decriminalize unauthorized border crossings, three Democrats running for top offices in Texas tell HuffPost.
That simple legal reform would have massive repercussions, upending the “zero tolerance” policy that the Trump administration used to split up families at the border. It would still allow the Department of Homeland Security to charge unauthorized immigrants with civil violations, but it would save the government billions in incarceration costs and allow federal prosecutors to spend more time fighting non-immigration crimes. And it would be logistically simpler than abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the idea currently in vogue on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Few top Democrats have weighed in on the concept. But during a campaign sweep across South Texas this weekend, congressional candidate Veronica Escobar, gubernatorial candidate Lupe Valdez and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who’s running for Senate, all called for some form of decriminalization.
Read the rest of the story HERE.
If you like what you see, please “Like” us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.
Comments are closed.