SAN ANTONIO -- Democratic presidential candidate and former San Antonio mayor Julian Castro will held what he called a "People First" rally Wednesday.
- Julian Castro holds rally in San Antonio
- Says America needs immigrants
- Claims we have nothing to fear
The event was a rebuke of President Donald Trump's policies.
Castro went to great lengths to differentialte himself from the president, and his speech focused almost entirely on immigration.
He said America needs immigrants and we need to treat migrants like human beings not criminals, which fits his plan to decriminalize illegal immigration.
He supports raising the number of refugees in the United States, saying we have nothing to fear.
"I am not afraid to take on the president and his signature issue because I have a completely different vision on how to handle immigration," Castro said. "Instead of cruelty, we should choose compassion. Instead of his failure we should use common sense and instead of pitting people against each other, its the values that bring us together whether you are white or black or Latino or Asian American that are stronger than his division."
This was an important night for Castro. He needs monentum in his campaign and as far as we know he is yet to reach the 65,000 donors to be part of the democratic debates. He declined to comment on that.
He was hoping to capitalize on the president's visit and seize some of that spotlight, but he did acknowledge that he was not a front runner.