April 15, 2014 9:23 PM

SB: Patrick and Castro clash in heated immigration debate

Patrick: "I'm the only candidate the Democrats fear." Castro: "Actually you're our meal ticket back in."

In an hour-long exchange that shed nearly zero light on policy but did give both sides plenty of heat to try to exploit with various constituencies, Sen. Dan Patrick and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro talked past each other in perhaps the oddest debate we've seen since Patrick debated another elected official he wasn't running against. But, the two did earn plenty of applause from a small audience in Univision’s studios in the Alamo City.

QR readers will remember that Sen. Patrick similarly debated State Board of Education Vice Chairman Thomas Ratliff in Tyler about an issue that, like immigration, had inflamed some on the right: The CSCOPE lesson plans that had been criticized as “un-American” by some but that educators have said are a necessary tool. That, of course, is a fringe issue compared to immigration and border security, which will shape the state's economy and political reality for decades to come.

In Tuesday night’s debate in San Antonio, Sen. Patrick started off by saying he is compassionate and added that it should concern Democrats like Castro to see women being raped by those engaged in human smuggling and to likewise see communities savaged by those in the drug trade.

"You can get emotional about this and political about this, but your job is to protect the safety of the city," Patrick said. The frontrunner for the GOP Lite Guv nomination faulted members of both parties in Washington for not acting on immigration reform. He said that if legal immigration was expanded and the border was secured, “illegal immigration would stop.”

"Texas is not being invaded by Mexico," Castro said and pointed out that the US Senate has already passed a bipartisan bill to address both border security as well as create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who earn it.

By Scott Braddock