Castro once praised Obama's tough "enforcement" on immigration

If you happened to notice much of Julian Castro’s performance during the last debate you probably heard him criticizing the other candidates for being insufficiently liberal on immigration policy. (In addition to asking Joe Biden if he was losing his memory.) He’s been using this issue as his calling card ever since he declared, staking out positions so far to the left that even the other woke candidates don’t want to stand too close to him.

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But it turns out it wasn’t always this way. The Free Beacon has dug up some of Castro’s golden oldies, focusing on his time as Mayor of San Antonio. Back in 2013, Castro was a big Obama supporter and was called before the House Judiciary Committee to testify on issues pertaining to border security and immigration enforcement. He was questioned by committee chair Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) and sang a very different tune than the one you’re hearing today.

“Do you think that interior enforcement should play a role to discourage future immigration by those not documented by making jobs to them unavailable? Should that be a part of that comprehensive immigration reform?” Goodlatte asked.

“That’s a great question,” Castro said. “I do believe that enforcement, both in terms of active enforcement on our borders—and under this administration there has been tremendous progress with regard to enforcement. In fact, the triggers in the 2007 proposal have just about all been met. But going forward, of course, enforcement is part of the conversation.”

“Both in terms of border security and interior security, comprehensive immigration reform gives us the opportunity to make this work better at every single juncture,” he added later.

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A picture’s worth a thousand words, so here’s the video to help Julian stroll down memory lane with us.

This is fairly incredible and I can’t help but think that some of the other candidates would be hitting him on this pretty heavily if he were polling anywhere north of zero percent. As things stand today he’s just serving as a convenient tool for those who might stand a chance but don’t want to be seen as slamming Joe Biden too hard.

Still, this sort of reversal is more than just a mere flip-flop. Castro’s current platform on immigration is as far left as one can go without offering to surrender our entire country to Mexico. He’s called for decriminalizing illegal crossings, offering free healthcare and other benefits to illegal immigrants and even removing some existing sections of the border wall. When a conservative in a primary debate calls for extending border barriers, Castro is the equivalent of the Republican who demands in return that we build a moat and fill it with laser enabled sharks.

But back in 2013, he was all about no jobs for the invaders and better ways to get people locked up and then deported. Think about it for a moment. That was barely six years ago. We’re not talking about some youthful person taking positions that later evolve with more life experience. Castro was already almost forty years old at that point and was the mayor of a major city.

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That only leaves us with one conclusion. Either he was being a phony back then to suck up to Barack Obama or he’s being a phony now to try to woo the furthest left wing of the party in the primary. Take your pick, but neither of these is a good look for him. Might want to pack it in and head back to Texas, Mr. Castro.

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