SAN ANTONIO — Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro sought Wednesday evening to seize the spotlight that President Donald Trump cast on his hometown with a fundraising visit, holding a counter-rally to denounce the president's immigration policies as an "absolute failure for our country."

"We're here today because we believe in people first," Castro told a crowd of a few hundred people at a park in downtown San Antonio. "We're here today because we choose compassion over cruelty."

The rally, which came several hours after the Trump fundraiser in San Antonio, gave the low-polling Castro an opportunity to stand out in an increasingly crowded Democratic field. He used it to showcase the immigration plan that he unveiled last week, which calls for decriminalizing illegal border crossings and instituting a 21st-century "Marshall Plan" for Central America, among other things.

It's the most detailed immigration proposal by a 2020 contender yet, and Castro leaned into the distinction Wednesday evening as he recalled a recent headline questioning why he is the only candidate with such a plan.

"That’s a good question. That is a good question," Castro said. "I mean, we know that this is the issue that this president has made front and center in his campaign. So why wouldn’t every candidate have an immigration plan?"

Castro added that he wouldn't speak for other candidates but will speak for himself. "I'm not afraid," Castro said.

The rally evoked the one that another Texas Democrat, former U.S. Senate nominee Beto O'Rourke, led in February when Trump visited O'Rourke's hometown, El Paso, to hold his own campaign event. At the time, O'Rourke was considering a White House bid, which he announced the next month.

Castro's rally Wednesday did not match the scale of O'Rourke's — or garner the same national media attention — but nonetheless drew an enthusiastic audience.