Deaton pitches housing and immigration plans
The Republican Senate candidate for Massachusetts outlines specific proposals for housing costs and legal status ahead of the November 3 election.
By Natalia Costa ·
John Deaton, the Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts, detailed a platform focused on housing affordability, immigration reform, and vocational training during an interview with El Planeta.
Deaton, a lawyer and former Marine, is running against incumbent Democrat Ed Markey. Deaton described his background, noting he grew up in a difficult neighborhood in Detroit and left high school. A small Catholic college halved his tuition, and he paid the remainder by washing dishes, shoveling snow, and waiting tables. He worked for two years driving a forklift and as a server before attending New England School of Law. He served seven years as a lawyer in the Marines, receiving a medical discharge due to a training injury. For the past 25 years, he has represented workers with asbestos-related cancer. He moved from Rhode Island to Massachusetts in 2024 to begin his first Senate campaign.
In the 2024 primary, Deaton lost to Elizabeth Warren with approximately 40% of the vote. The Boston Globe editorial board called him an attractive alternative in 2024, noting his open liberalism on social issues. Deaton identifies as an independent and stated he has never voted for Donald Trump. He plans to add members of Latino, African American, and Asian communities to his permanent staff to review legislation from those perspectives. He said, "If I get a seat at the table, you will have a seat at the table."
On immigration, Deaton opposes both open borders and mass deportations. He proposes objective criteria for granting temporary legal status to individuals who have lived in the country for at least ten years, work or study, and have no criminal record. This status would include a three-year probation period. If no crimes are committed, it would convert to permanent status, potentially leading to citizenship. He suggested a fee between $500 and $5,000, though the exact amount is undecided. His campaign supports a path to citizenship for eligible DACA recipients and seeks to resolve waits of up to ten years for family-based petitions. He cited the 1986 immigration law, which regularized the status of about 2.7 million people, as a precedent. He also addressed H-1B, H-2B, and TPS visa holders who lost status. Haitian TPS ended in August following a Supreme Court ruling, while Salvadoran TPS remains active pending a government announcement.
Deaton advocates for reforming ICE rather than abolishing it. He proposed limiting ICE operations to a model similar to Secure Communities, where agents remove undocumented individuals arrested by local police for serious crimes. He stated, "Abolish ICE is not a policy. It is a slogan." He criticized masked agents removing residents from streets, noting that Latino citizens in Lawrence avoid dining out for fear of harassment. He emphasized deporting only those with serious criminal records.
For housing, Deaton cited a $650,000 cost for a starter home in Massachusetts. The Warren Group reported a median single-family home price of $665,000 in May 2026. He proposed a national plan to build five million homes over five years on federal land, such as former military bases, with developer incentives. He also proposed fixing energy transmission costs, which he said can be four times the supply cost, and supported nuclear energy and natural gas. In health care, his campaign claims three insurers control over 90% of the sector and proposed breaking them up.
Deaton argued that artificial intelligence will impact legal jobs but spare trades like electrical work, welding, and plumbing. He proposed a vocational program starting in high school and a vocational GI Bill with credits and scholarships. This would allow young people to start businesses without $200,000 in student debt. For Lawrence, which is 82.3% Latino, he proposed tax credits and special business zones with preferential tax treatment for small businesses. He plans to apply similar measures in Lowell and other cities with high Latino populations.
A MassINC poll from early October showed Markey leading Deaton 54% to 28%. Massachusetts has not sent a Republican to the Senate since Scott Brown in 2010. Voting takes place on Tuesday, November 3. The ballot includes nine additional questions, for which guides are available in Spanish from El Planeta, CommonWealth Beacon, and The Bay State Banner.
