Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Juliàn Castro has announced his candidacy for President of the United States in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas on Saturday.
During his announcement to become the nation’s first Hispanic President, Castro emphasized a message of hope and diversity at a time when Americans are locked in angry debate over immigration and border security.
“I am a candidate for president of the United States,” the 44-year-old Castro told a crowd in San Antonio’s historic Guadalupe Plaza, during a speech that frequently invoked the immigrant heritage that brought his family to the US from Mexico.
Often called a rising star in the Democratic Party, Castro, who was Obama’s housing secretary — and the youngest member of that cabinet — is expected to be part of a diverse field of candidates eager to challenge President Donald Trump.
At a time when the federal government has been partly shut down over Trump’s demand for funds to build a wall on the Mexican border, Castro sounded a contrasting message.
He said San Antonio, a city that is nearly two thirds Hispanic, “represents America’s future: diverse, fast-growing, optimistic.”
“Yes, we must have border security, but there is a smart and humane way to do it. And there is no way in hell that caging children is keeping us safe,” Castro said.
“We say no to building a wall and say yes to building community,” he added, to roars from the crowd.
Trump wants the border wall to block illegal immigrants he has sought to equate with crime, drugs and gangs.
“There is a crisis today — it’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation,” Castro said.
Urging his supporters to look around the blue-collar neighborhood where he grew up, Castro said, “there are no frontrunners that are born here, but… with big dreams and hard work, anything is possible in this country.”
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