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2020 presidential candidates on immigration enforcement

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Presidential election
Republican Party Donald Trump
Democratic Party Joe Biden
Green Party Howie Hawkins
Libertarian Party Jo Jorgensen

This page includes statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on immigration enforcement. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews. Click the following links for policy statements about related issues: immigration, border security, and DACA and Dreamers.

The candidates featured on this page are the 2020 presidential nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties.

Republican Party Donald Trump
Democratic Party Joe Biden
Green Party Howie Hawkins
Libertarian Party Jo Jorgensen

Immigration enforcement

Republican candidates

Donald Trump

Donald Trump's campaign website says, "President Trump ordered the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents and 5,000 additional border patrol agents. The Trump Administration has worked to partner with local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. As of May 2019, 80 counties in 21 states are participating in the 287(g) program, which gives state and local law enforcement entities delegated authority by ICE to enforce immigration in their jurisdiction. The Trump Administration has made removals of illegal immigrants a priority." [source, as of 2020-02-06]

Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford's campaign website says, "I believe in a secure border. I have voted for wall funding, and also believe we need to update the amnesty laws in our country. I believe furthermore that we should increase the number of work permits to our country, end chain migration, and move from a family reunification system to a merit based system that attracts the skill sets we need to make America more competitive." [source, as of 2019-09-10]

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh said during a debate, "I have a reputation as a pretty headlined on immigration. So I got to give and I want my borders secure. I want our laws followed. But we've got eleven to how many people in this country illegally we got almost a million Dreamers who are here through no fault of their own. Both sides have to come together and give a little on this issue because it's not getting better. There has to be a tradeoff. Between border security and dealing with the immigrants who are here and the biggest problem at the border right now Henry is this asylum issue and that's something we got to move on a lot faster."

[source, as of 2019-09-24]

Bill Weld

Bill Weld's campaign website does not include a statement about immigration enforcement.

Weld said in a speech, "When it comes to immigration, we should adopt a robust guest worker program, to assist our agricultural and construction industries, particularly in the western states. We don’t need a path to citizenship for eleven million people, but we do need more and longer work visas. Under the current regime, we’re simply educating our competition in our graduate schools, and then sending them home to China and other economic competitors of the U.S. We may not need a long impenetrable wall, but we do need short-term bridges." [source, as of 2019-02-15]

Democratic candidates

Joe Biden

Joe Biden's campaign website says he will adopt some of the following immigration enforcement policies in his first 100 days in office: "Immediately reverse the Trump Administration’s cruel and senseless policies that separate parents from their children at our border. End Trump’s detrimental asylum policies. End the mismanagement of the asylum system, which fuels violence and chaos at the border. Surge humanitarian resources to the border and foster public-private initiatives. End prolonged detention and reinvest in a case management program. Reverse Trump’s public charge rule. End the so-called National Emergency that siphons federal dollars from the Department of Defense to build a wall." [source, as of 2020-06-18]

Michael Bloomberg

Mike Bloomberg said in a speech, "To argue that a child carried here in his or her parents’ arms broke the law defies logic, and reason, and any comprehensible interpretation of what the Founding Fathers would have thought anyone’s definition of lawbreaking was. Not to mention, it lacks any sense of decency and compassion. The vast majority of us agree that we should control our borders and welcome hard-working people from around the world who want to come here to work and pursue the American Dream, and provide a path to citizenship for all who are here." [source, as of 2019-02-08]

Cory Booker

Cory Booker's campaign website lists six immigration enforcement-related priorities: "Stop treating immigrants as criminals. Stop terrorizing immigrants in their homes and communities by reforming ICE and CBP and increasing accountability. Expand pathways for refugees and those seeking asylum. Revoke the orders against sanctuary cities and expanding interior enforcement. Take steps to end the backlog of immigration cases. Reinstate and expand the Central American Minors Program."

The website says: "The criminal prosecution of improper entry has been used by the Trump Administration as a basis for the separation of thousands of families. Not only is this practice inhumane and counter to our values, it also makes us less safe by focusing law enforcement resources on people who pose no risk to public safety. In Cory’s administration, he will direct DHS to end immigration raids on “sensitive locations”—which today include schools, medical facilities and places of worship—as carried out by the Trump Administration and to expand the list of sensitive locations to explicitly include courthouses, among other locations. In January 2017, the president issued an executive order to strip federal funding from localities that do not comply with his agenda of mass-deportation and dramatically expand interior enforcement. Federal courts ruled the president’s executive order unconstitutional and have blocked his policies from taking effect. Cory would rescind these policies and stand up for cities that protect the well-being of every member of their community." [source, as of 2019-08-26]

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg's campaign website lists the following immigration enforcement policies: "End the family separation crisis and evaluate ICE and CBP practices to ensure similar humanitarian crises never happen again. Reinstate enforcement priorities and prevent arbitrary targeting of immigrant communities by enforcement officials." [source, as of 2019-08-21]

Julián Castro

Julián Castro supports decriminalizing unauthorized border crossings, reconstituting the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency, and focusing the Customs and Border Protection agency's efforts on drug and human trafficking at the border.

Castro's website includes the following proposals: "End agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and other such agreements between federal immigration agencies and state and local entities that erode trust between communities and local police and end ICE detainers. Repeal Section 1325 of Immigration and Nationality Act, which applies a criminal, rather than civil, violation to people apprehended when entering the United States. Effectively end the use of detention in conducting immigration enforcement, except in serious cases. Eliminate the for-profit immigration detention and prison industry. End immigration enforcement raids at or near sensitive locations. Reconstitute the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) by splitting the agency in half and re-assigning enforcement functions within the Enforcement and Removal Operations to other agencies, including the Department of Justice. Reprioritize Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to focus its efforts on border-related activities including drug and human trafficking, rather than law enforcement activities in the interior of the United States." [source, as of 2019-08-28]

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard's campaign website says, "We need comprehensive immigration reform to address our broken immigration laws and we need to have a serious conversation about the most effective and humane ways to compassionately secure our borders while building bridges and cooperative foreign policy with other countries. We need to ensure we have a clear, enforceable, accessible, and humane pathway to citizenship. Most urgently, we must pass DACA to ensure children who know no other home are allowed to remain in the US and take steps to ensure children are not separated from their parents. We must fund and equip agencies in charge of processing asylum claim and protect migrants, many of whom are women and children, who are going through our asylum process and fleeing natural disasters, religious persecution, or violence under an asylum status." [source, as of 2019-09-26]

Kamala D. Harris

Kamala Harris' campaign website says she "believes we must fundamentally overhaul our immigration enforcement policies and practices—they are cruel and out of control. As president, she’ll close private immigrant detention centers, increase oversight of agencies like Customs and Border Protection, and focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not on tearing apart immigrant families."

Her website continues, "For Kamala, this is about making America a place that welcomes immigrants searching for a better life. It’s why she’ll reverse President Trump’s Muslim Ban on Day One and fix the family visa backlog. Kamala also will immediately change course on President Trump’s disastrous and cruel border strategy. She understands that for many immigrant families, leaving home and arriving at our Southern border is not a choice. That’s why she will ensure those fleeing persecution have a full and fair opportunity to make their claim, aggressively pursue a foreign policy focused on stabilizing Central America where conditions have forced families to flee, and increase funding for processing centers and child welfare workers. Kamala will focus our border enforcement resources on true public safety threats through investments in technology and ports of entry to address the flow of illegal drugs, illegal weapons and human trafficking." [source, as of 2019-08-20]

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar's camapign says in a plan for her first 100 days in office, "Senator Klobuchar will jump-start negotiations for comprehensive immigration reform — which includes a pathway to citizenship, the DREAM Act and border security — with the stated goal of passing it in the first year of her presidency. Comprehensive immigration could reduce the deficit by $158 billion. Senator Klobuchar will issue an Executive Order putting an immediate end to the cruel and inhumane policy where the government is taking kids away from their parents and ensuring children are reunited with their parents without delay. She will also reverse this administration’s attempt to overrule the Flores Settlement Agreement, which prevents prolonged detention of children and prevents children from being detained in inhumane conditions by requiring basic levels of food, water and health care." [source, as of 2018-07-01]

Beto O'Rourke

Beto O'Rouke says he would "ensure lawful and humane conditions at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, including access to medical treatment, mental health care, social workers, and translators, and restore orderly and prompt processing of people seeking refuge under our nation’s asylum laws."

O'Rourke's campaign website includes the following proposals on immigration enforcement: "Rescinding the current administration’s executive orders that seek to maximize detention and deportation. Ending family separation at the border and illegal policies like “metering” and “Remain in Mexico." Ensuring that no one fleeing persecution is prosecuted for crossing our border. Upgrading and increasing staffing in the asylum system, which will, in turn, streamline how cases move through the process and provide timely and fair asylum decisions." [source, as of 2019-08-27]

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders opposed the creation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and proposes restructuring it.

His campaign website says the following about immigration enforcement: "Completely reshape and reform our immigration enforcement system, including fundamentally restructuring ICE, an agency Senator Sanders voted against creating. End the barbaric practice of family separation and detention of children in cages. Dismantle cruel and inhumane deportation programs and detention centers. Establish standards for independent oversight of relevant agencies within DHS." [source, as of 2019-08-23]

Thomas Steyer

Tom Steyer tweeted, "We can’t keep offering temporary solutions to the crisis at the border. Tent courthouses and detention camps aren’t a long-term plan. We need comprehensive immigration reform." [source, as of 2019-08-29]

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren called for the following in an immigration plan published online: "Decriminalize migration and refocus enforcement on serious criminal activity. Separate law enforcement from immigration enforcement to strengthen our communities. Remake CBP and ICE in a way that reflects our values. Create accountability for the abuse perpetrated during the Trump Era."

Warren outlined her proposals on immigration enforcement in a Medium post. Under the heading "Eliminating Abusive Enforcement," she listed the following points: "Decriminalize migration and refocus enforcement on serious criminal activity. Separate law enforcement from immigration enforcement to strengthen our communities. Remake CBP and ICE in a way that reflects our values. Create accountability for the abuse perpetrated during the Trump Era." Warren listed the following under the heading "Significantly Reduce Immigration Detention": "End unnecessary detention. Eliminate private detention facilities. Expand the executive use of parole and invest in alternatives-to-detention." Warren listed the following under the heading "Provide Rights and Due Process in our Immigration Courts": "Establish professional, independent Article I immigration courts. Eliminate expedited removal and provide due process." [source, as of 2019-07-11]

Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "Outside of increasing our guest worker program and making sure that those who receive temporary permission to come to the US to work leave when their time is up, we also need to find ways to address this massive community of undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally. Rounding up and deporting that many people is a nonstarter—it would be prohibitively expensive, disruptive, and inhumane to many communities, so a pathway to citizenship must be provided (after securing our southern border, so that we don’t end up right back where we started). However, this pathway must reflect the fact that these individuals tried to circumvent our legal immigration system. It’s even more important to get this right when citizenship guarantees a Freedom Dividend." [source, as of 2019-08-28]

Green candidates

Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins' campaign website says, "I would immediately repeal Trump’s immigration executive orders. The detention camps would be immediately closed and the migrants freed. The status of undocumented immigrants would be legalized and immigrants provided a timely path to citizenship. I support a policy of Open Borders where movement between nations is free, like it is within the European Union. International borders should be authentic fair-trade zones where people are free to travel across borders for work, shopping, recreation, and residence. People crossing international borders would be required to present their identification at a border crossing. Only people wanted for criminal charges would be detained. People who cross without checking in at a border crossing would be prosecuted for illegal entry. Open borders will benefit the US and Latin American economies and will uphold the basic human right of freedom of movement." [source, as of 2020-07-09]

Libertarian candidates

Jo Jorgensen

Jo Jorgensen's campaign website says the U.S. should not build a wall along the southern border or separate children from adults who illegally attempted to cross the border. Jorgensen supports deporting illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes. She opposes local law enforcement detaining illegal immigrants and transferring them to federal immigration authorities unless the crime involves a victim and is serious. [source, as of 2020-07-28]


Other policy pages

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Footnotes

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2020 United States presidential election
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