Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke put a positive spin Thursday on the raging immigration debate, saying it is the “best possible problem for the nation to have” in the launch of his presidential bid.
Mr. O’Rourke, who lives in the border city of El Paso, has been an outspoken critic of President Trump’s approach to immigration and border security and said last month he supports removing the fencing that separates El Paso from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
“All of us, wherever you live can acknowledge that if immigration is a problem, it is the best possible problem for this country to have, and we should ensure there are lawful paths to work, to be with family and to flee persecution,” he said in an online video announcing he is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Mr. O’Rourke served on the El Paso City Council before representing the 16th District in Texas for three terms in the House.
El Paso is one of the nation’s largest border cities and became the center of the immigration debate last month when President Trump held a rally there to declare a national emergency and to continue to push for a border wall.
Mr. O’Rourke cast the debate in a different light at a counter rally that he organized.
“We are not safe because of walls but in spite of walls,” Mr. O’Rourke said at the time,
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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