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O’Rourke Plans On Making Human Immigration Policies

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who comes from the border city of El Paso, Texas, has released his plans for immigration reform. O’Rourke proposes a series of legislative actions and executive orders on immigration that he would implement as president.

“On day one of his presidency, Beto will use executive authority to stop the inhumane treatment of children, reunite families that have been separated, reform our asylum system, rescind the travel bans, and remove the fear of deportation for Dreamers and beneficiaries of programs like TPS,” the plan, officially released by O’Rourke’s campaign, states.

O’Rourke wants to fundamentally change how the U.S. government treats asylum seekers from Latin America, Buzzfeed News reports.

“So far, O’Rourke is only the second Democratic presidential candidate, behind former housing secretary Julián Castro, to release a detailed immigration plan,” says Buzzfeed News. “Several other candidates have released more general immigration platforms. Both O’Rourke and Castro call for decriminalizing border crossings, adding support for initiatives that aim to stabilize Central American countries, eliminating for-profit immigration prisons, and increasing resources for asylum seekers in immigration courts.”

O’Rourke’s plan offers an “immediate” path to citizenship for “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. It would also eliminate criminal charges against people caught crossing the border illegally.

“In addition to eliminating criminal charges against people just for crossing the border, O’Rourke’s proposal would also end immigration detention of anyone without a criminal background, and mandate medical care and humane conditions for people held temporarily in border facilities,” Buzzfeed News reports.