DALLAS — Rochelle Garza is leaning into her experience as an immigration attorney and border native in her run for the Democratic nomination for Texas attorney general. She grew up in Brownsville and still lives there to this day.
First and foremost, Garza says she would put a stop to Gov. Greg Abbott’s border wall and “Operation Lone Star,” which sent National Guard troops to the border, which she says is unconstitutional.
“As Attorney General I would advocate for a more humane immigration system based on my knowledge and experience in working on these issues,” Garza said on Inside Texas Politics.
Garza also supports legalizing recreational use of marijuana. And even though it would take legislative action to change cannabis or border policy, Garza says the attorney general can be a loud advocate.
Watch the segment below:
“An attorney general has the ability to advocate and use the power of the office to insure that we go in the right direction,” said the Democrat. “The attorney general can issue opinions, can advocate as I mentioned, and litigate to further some of these issues that are important to Texans.”
The latest University of Texas poll shows Garza leading her Democratic challengers, with Joe Jaworski second and Lee Merritt third. But none are above the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff.
And the Democratic nominee will face a well-funded Republican opponent, no matter who wins that party’s nomination.
Garza says she’s built a broad coalition over the past few months, both here in the state and nationally. And if she wins, she says she’d start cleaning up the office and focus on improving the lives of Texas families.
“That means letting go of litigation, pulling out of litigation that has been harmful and insuring we build better access to civil rights. Voting rights is going to be a big priority of mine, so dismantling his voter integrity unit, which is really a means of suppression, is going to be one of the first things I would like to do,” said Garza.
The Texas Primary is Tuesday, March 1.