Immigration Takes Centre Stage At First Democratic Presidential Debate

Miami: The immigration crisis unfolding at the US-Mexico border dominated the first televised Democratic presidential debate, and also expressed their stances on a host of economic issues affecting America. The first debate between Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls began on Wednesday night with the participation of 10 of 24 candidates bidding for the party’s nomination in a sizable race which would end in the November 2020 elections, reports Efe news.

Due to the high number of aspirants, the party decided to hold two debates with the 20 most popular candidates in opinion polls, who also have to fulfil other requirements. The Wednesday night debate featured Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan.

As the debate unfolded, Castro, a former housing and urban development secretary and the only Hispanic person on the contenders’ list, called for ending the criminalization of the undocumented immigrants crossing the border. He argued for the repeal of Section 1325 of the US Code, part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which has allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to implement its “zero tolerance” policy towards illegal immigrants. He said border crossings should be treated as a civil violations, rather than federal offences. Metering is the practice of making asylum seekers without documents wait until entry ports have the capacity to process them, which could take anywhere from days to months. (IANS)

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