Factbox: Democratic U.S. presidential hopefuls seek contrast with Trump
on immigration
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[October 23, 2019]
By Amanda Becker
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Candidates running
for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have been uniformly
critical of the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who
was elected after promising to crack down on illegal immigration and
bolster enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Since entering the White House in 2017, Trump has moved to end former
President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
program, which protects immigrants brought illegally to the United
States as children from deportation.
He has also curtailed immigration from majority-Muslim countries, as
well as temporarily instituted a policy along the U.S.-Mexico border
separating children from parents or guardians with whom they crossed the
border and holding them in separate facilities.
Democrats have largely condemned Trump's approach to immigration, and
the candidates leading the field to take on Trump in November 2020 have
sought to contrast their stances with that of the Republican president.
Here is a look at the immigration positions of the leading Democratic
candidates:
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Oct/23/images/ads/current/countryfinancial_lda_PPP_2018.png)
JOE BIDEN
Biden struggled in early presidential debates to defend some immigration
measures taken by former President Barack Obama when Biden was his vice
president, including the deportation of more than 3 million immigrants
between 2009 and 2016, setting a record. Biden said Obama "did the best
thing that was able to be done" and pointed to Obama's creation of DACA,
which the Trump administration wants to end. At another debate, Biden
said undocumented immigrants needed to "get in line" and that the United
States has the authority to prioritize those with needed skills or
advanced degrees. His campaign has said Biden supports working with the
U.S. Congress to make comprehensive immigration changes, including a
pathway to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. Biden has not
released a detailed immigration plan.
ELIZABETH WARREN
Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, has said she would
decriminalize migration by immediately issuing guidance to federal
prosecutors that they not pursue cases related to administrative
immigration violations. She would also separate immigration and law
enforcement agencies into separate entities, and reshape the U.S.
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) "from top to bottom." Warren would eliminate privately
owned immigration detention facilities and only detain those who are a
flight risk. She would create an immigration court system independent
from the U.S. Department of Justice and increase the number of refugees
allowed into the country. She would work with Congress to pass
comprehensive immigration legislation that would create a path to
citizenship.
BERNIE SANDERS
Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, says he would work with Congress
to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that includes a pathway to
citizenship. He favors providing immediate legal status for those
eligible for DACA. Sanders voted against creating ICE and would seek to
restructure it. Sanders has said the surge of migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border is a "serious problem" but criticized the Trump
administration's detention policies. He has said he opposes open
borders, which he believes would strain government resources and make it
more difficult to enact other policies he champions such as universal
healthcare and free college tuition.
PETE BUTTIGIEG
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has said he supports the
DACA program and immigration legislation that includes a pathway to
citizenship. He has criticized the Trump administration's move to send
troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as a waste of time. Buttigieg wants to
evaluate ICE and CBP policies to ensure there will be no future family
separations along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has also said he would aim
to reduce backlogs in the immigration and asylum processes.
KAMALA HARRIS
Harris, a U.S. senator from California and its former top prosecutor,
has said that Congress must pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul
but, given its inability to do so, her plan rests on the president's
executive power. She would use that authority to create a path to
citizenship for young immigrants, and expand the DACA program to cover
parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, veterans and
undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for many
years. She has said she would support overhauling ICE.
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![](../images/102319PIX/news_s33.jpg)
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden
delivers a speech during the Women's Leadership Forum in Washington,
U.S. October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
AMY KLOBUCHAR
Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, has supported efforts to
pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul in Congress and says she
believes that a pathway to citizenship should be created for all
immigrants already in the U.S. legally. She sponsored a bill that
would have prevented the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from
sharing most DACA recipients' information with ICE, CBP or the
Justice Department. She has argued that the families of active-duty
military members should be protected from deportation.
ANDREW YANG
Yang, a technology entrepreneur, supports legislation languishing in
Congress known as the DREAM Act, which would permanently protect
DACA youth from deportation and provide them with a pathway to
citizenship. He favors increasing the guest-worker program, while
making sure workers leave when the approved time is up. He has said
any pathway to citizenship created for undocumented immigrants
should "reflect the fact that these individuals tried to circumvent
our legal immigration system."
CORY BOOKER
Booker, a U.S. senator from New Jersey, has said "we can't wait for
Congress to act" on immigration and would, on his first day in
office, use the president's executive power to make sweeping
changes. He would restore DACA protections and end spending on the
Trump administration's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Booker
would direct DHS to require its immigration facilities to meet
standards set by the American Bar Association and expand legal
counsel for undocumented immigrants. Booker has said he would lift
Trump administration restrictions on immigration from
majority-Muslim countries and phase out the use of privately owned
prisons.
BETO O'ROURKE
O'Rourke, a former U.S. representative from Texas, has said "on day
one of his presidency" he would use the executive power of the
office to protect "Dreamer" immigrants from deportation and reunite
families that have been separated along the U.S.-Mexico border. He
would lift Trump administration restrictions on immigration from
predominantly Muslim countries. O'Rourke would also take steps to
increase staffing to expedite the asylum process, make immigration
courts independent from the Department of Justice and deploy up to
2,000 lawyers to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide immigrants with
legal counsel.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Oct/23/images/ads/current/humanesociety_sda022411.png)
JULIAN CASTRO
Castro, a secretary of housing and urban development during the
Obama administration, has made overhauling the U.S. immigration
system a centerpiece of his campaign. The former mayor of San
Antonio, Texas, supports immigration legislation providing a pathway
to citizenship and permanently protecting DACA recipients from
deportation. He says he would reduce or eliminate a backlog of 4.4
million waiting for visas in part by allowing spouses and children
of permanent residents to immediately reunite with their family
members in the United States. He would eliminate per-country visa
limits, end Trump-era restrictions on immigration from
majority-Muslim countries and increase the admission of refugees. He
would end the practice of deporting veterans who had served in the
U.S. armed forces and allow those who have been deported to return.
He would overhaul ICE and direct CBP to focus on human trafficking.
TULSI GABBARD
Gabbard, a U.S. representative from Hawaii and combat veteran,
supports permanently protecting DACA recipients from deportation.
She backed legislation that would remove per-country caps on
employment-based green cards. She joined with Republicans to support
a 2015 bill that would have added extra vetting requirements for
refugees from Syria and Iraq.
TOM STEYER
Billionaire climate activist Steyer has donated millions to legal
aid groups helping immigrants facing deportation. He has praised the
contributions immigrants make to U.S. society. NextGen, a liberal
advocacy group he founded, states that "a system that depends upon
the labor of immigrants, but fails to offer a path to citizenship,
is inherently unjust."
(Reporting by Amanda Becker; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Steve
Orlofsky)
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