Perhaps the most notable feature of the Democratic presidential debate in Houston on Thursday was what the candidates did not say about Latin America, immigration, asylum and border security. This was in stark contrast to the detail with which they addressed health care, education, gun control and the war in Afghanistan. Their silence, half-truths or platitudes on these issues was surprising.

However, the fact that none of the participants repeated the commitment to decriminalize unauthorized entry into the United States is worthy of praise. Unauthorized entry should indeed be decriminalized, but saying so during a campaign against President Trump is akin to political suicide. But none of the candidates touched on any of these other pressing issues in their opening or closing remarks. And it was only in response to the Univision anchor Jorge Ramos’s queries about immigration, asylum and Venezuela that they tepidly clarified their stances.

Julián Castro said of the shootings in El Paso: “Someone drove 10 hours to kill people who look like me and my family.” And yet he was much more cautious about his immigration plan, preferring to center his statements on Dreamers, or DACA, an important but “safe” issue that even President Trump can agree to. His silence on decriminalization was all the more conspicuous, considering he brought up the issue in a debate in June.

Beto O’Rourke touched upon, but without detail — and partly in Spanish — one of the more complicated aspects of immigration: what should be done about people who overstay their visas. Elizabeth Warren supported creating a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented foreigners in the United States today, but again, without specifics. And former Vice President Biden wavered when asked whether he thought President Barack Obama’s mass deportations had been a mistake or not — granted, a tough question that perhaps he was wise to avoid answering.