2020: Julian Castro: We Need Migrants ‘More than Ever Before’

Presidential candidate Julian Castro on Wednesday evening said the United States needs migrants today “more than ever before” and will be “begging” for more migrants in the future if the country does not allow more to stay.

The former San Antonio mayor held a counter-rally in San Antonio after President Donald Trump held a fundraiser there, and Castro called for even more migrants to compete for jobs across America.

“The truth is, that in many ways, this country needs them more than ever before,” Castro said. “Our agriculture industry, our hospitality industry, our construction industry already utilize labor from migrants.”

Castro also said that though “this is a bit politically incorrect to say to some people,” the country also needs migrants because of the nation’s aging population.

“We have a population in the United States that is aging, the fastest growing demographic are baby boomers turning 65 and drawing down on Social Security,” Castro continued. “We see countries around the world like Japan that need younger workers. And let me tell you something, if we don’t get this right, in 20 or 30 years the United states is going to be begging immigrants to come to make a youthful and vibrant workforce. We need them today more than ever before.”

Castro, who introduced an immigration plan that would decriminalize illegal immigration, made his remarks at a time when even establishment media outlets have had to concede that there is a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Even CNN had to report this week that apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached a ten-year high, with more than 103,000 illegal immigrant migrants apprehended in March.

“The Border Patrol is facing unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis. We’re seeing record numbers of apprehension, large groups and numbers in custody and we’ve arrived at the breaking point,” Border Patrol official Brian Hastings told the outlet.

And the New York Times on Wednesday reported that smugglers are telling migrants that “they will be quickly released, as long as they bring a child, and that they will be allowed to remain in the United States for years.”

Castro, though, has insisted that the border crisis is nothing but “B.S.”

“I don’t believe their narrative,” Castro recently said. “I don’t believe the B.S. that women and children who are fleeing dangerous circumstances present a national security threat to this country.”