You have to wonder if Warren-Castro could be the ticket to Democrats unseating President Donald Trump in 2020.

In a very crowded debate of 10 Democratic candidates, Sen. Elizabeth Warren got the chance to bookend the night during opening and closing statements, with her standard policy-laden plans sprinkled in between.

As the top polling candidate of Wednesday’s scrum, Warren was given star treatment by NBC, with her podium set at center stage. She didn’t exactly shine last night, and the Boston Globe‘s Joan Vennochi  even said that Warren wasn’t the big story, and she had “nothing to say about immigration.” But if you still think Warren looked like the frontrunner at least among this half of the Democratic field, you began wondering who could be her No. 2.

Immigration was a prevalent topic, as Democrats remain heated about Trump’s border and detention policies days after the drowning deaths of migrants Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria in the Rio Grande. Former housing secretary Julian Castro, who also served as mayor of San Antonio before joining the Obama administration, dominated on the subject with the most intricate policy proposals.

He pushed a plan to decriminalize crossing the US border without documents, challenging every candidate to support the repeal of a portion of the law that allows federal authorities who charge migrants who cross illegally with a criminal offense (although it would remain a civil offense). He even went as far as to call out fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke, saying that O’Rourke’s immigration policy would “criminalize a lot of these families,” and that the current law is the “reason that they’re separating these little children from their families.” Interestingly, Castro’s immigration policy is endorsed by Warren.

“Watching that image of Óscar and his daughter Valeria is heartbreaking; it should also piss us all off and it should spur us to action,” Castro said during the debate.

And while Castro got the chance to shine on immigration, Warren spent the day visiting the Homestead detention facility in Florida, the largest child migrant detention center in the country. The Globe‘s Liz Goodwin and Jess Bidgood wrote that Warren said she wants to end all private detention. During NBC’s breakout panel of millennial debate watchers, several young women touted the Massachusetts senator. But when it came to who “won” the debate, five out of six decisively said, “Julian Castro.”

Many Latino journalists and prominent local immigration attorneys noted what an intriguing paring Warren-Castro would be, particularly with their similar immigration interests and their execution of incredibly complex policy (and explaining it to the average Joe). While Warren comes from a liberal state, Castro is from the state that has seen the most conservative border and migration policies executed, and a state that has struggled with its blue/red identity in the wake of a growing Latino and Democratic demographic.

The Boston-Austin alliance worked out well almost 60 years ago when John F. Kennedy paired up with Lyndon Johnson. Perhaps we’ll see another joining of Massachusetts and Texas political forces.

SARAH BETANCOURT 

BEACON HILL

Undocumented abuse survivors take a bus to the State House to push for the Safe Communities Act. Along the way, they tell their stories. (CommonWealth)

While Gov. Charlie Baker is in London talking about offshore wind and taking in the spectacle of a Red Sox-Yankee game there, criticism continues at home over Gov. Fix-It’s failures with the MBTA and now also the Registry of Motor Vehicles. (Boston Globe) Connecticut officials say they followed all protocols in notifying Massachusetts authorities of the charges against a Bay State trucker driver now charged in connection with the death of 7 motorcyclists that should have resulted in suspension of his license. (Boston Globe)

Springfield prosecutor Karen McCarthy is confirmed for a position on the state parole board by a testy 5-3 vote. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Boston officials approve an application for a “straight pride” parade on August 31. (MassLive)

ELECTIONS

Ten Democrats vied for airtime in the first night of debates for president, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the marquee candidate in the first round putting in a solid performance. (Boston Globe) New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says he was wrong about Warren — she’s a far better candidate for president than he thought she would be.

Climate change could become a significant factor in the 2020 race, with Republican voters more concerned about it than might be expected, given President Trump’s head-in-the-sand dismissal of the issue. (Boston Globe)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Wayfair has built a company based around idealistic, young tech workers — and it learned in yesterday’s walkout what that can mean when those ideals clash with corporate culture. (Boston Globe)

EDUCATION

An appeal by the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School to win support for a major expansion in Hadley is shot down by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said the proposal to go from 584 to 952 students might fit in a densely populated urban area, but not in a sparsely populated rural area where the school-age population is declining. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

In a letter, MIT President Rafael Reif pushes back against “a toxic atmosphere of unfounded suspicion and fear” that makes Chinese and Chinese-American academics feel unfairly scrutinized amid rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. (WBUR)

There will be more turnover at Salem High School as Vittoria Pacifico, the interim principal whose appointment sparked heated controversy earlier this year, has taken the position of head of school at the Academy of Notre Dame in Tyngsborough. (Salem News)

The Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District will have another month to sign a letter of commitment required to secure a $44.3 million state reimbursement for a new regional middle school building. (Cape Cod Times) 

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Patients and advocates at a State House hearing decried state policy that has men civilly committed for addiction issues held by the Department of Correction in prison-like settings. (Boston Globe)

Attorney General Maura Healey’s office has issued 15 citations to Joseph Schwartz and Michael Schwartz of Skyline Healthcare for failure to pay timely wages to 106 employees, provide pay stubs to 369 employees, and provide payroll records to Healey’s office upon request. The fine? Nearly $85,000. (Standard Times) 

Authorities are investigating the sudden death of a 1-year-old girl who was a foster child living Lawrence with three other children. (Eagle-Tribune)

TRANSPORTATION 

Most voters in the Boston area believe the MBTA has major problems, disapprove of how Gov. Charlie Baker is handling it, oppose the fare hikes going into effect Monday, and think Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh should ride the T, according to a new WBUR/MassINC Polling Group survey.

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Worcester ups the price of its yellow trash bags by 50 cents and also requires residents to put recycled materials in free, clear plastic bags rather than bins to avoid materials from blowing around neighborhoods. The city also intends to establish a four-member “clean team” to improve the appearance of the city. (Telegram & Gazette)

CASINOS

State gambling regulators are monitoring a dispute between Encore Boston Harbor and the project’s subcontractors who claim they have not been paid tens of millions of dollars for work done at the $2.6 billion Everett casino that opened Sunday. (Boston Herald) 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A resident who witnessed a showdown between Boston police and armed 19-year-old who wound up fatally shot by officers said police showed great restraint in the encounter. (Dorchester Reporter)

Sheriffs in Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties renew their cooperation agreements with ICE. (Patriot Ledger)

Keith Ablow, a prominent Newburyport psychologist who is appealing the suspension of his medical license, has reached undisclosed settlements resolving lawsuits that alleged inappropriate sexual behavior with patients and other violations. (Salem News)

The lawyer for a Newton district court judge under suspension because she faces federal charges in connection with her handling of a case involving an undocumented immigrant asked the Supreme Judicial Court to reinstate her salary while the case proceeds. (Boston Globe)

Prosecutors have dropped drug charges against two former Haverhill highway workers, and it is unclear whether they will seek to be reinstated to their old jobs. (Eagle-Tribune)

The group Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit against the Boston Police Department last week calling for the release of records on hiring, promotion, discipline and termination of applicants and employees of color in the department. (Bay State Banner) 
MEDIA

Dan Kennedy writes “The Take” on New England Cable News, hosted by Sue O’Connell will be taken off air at the end of this week. (Media Nation)