Juan Colon / Temple News
Predictions show that the presidential election is expected to be historically close between the two candidates, with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris having to strengthen their positions on key issues such as immigration.
Immigration policy was a controversial topic during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. In 2017, he tried to impose a “Muslim travel ban” that included many Muslim-majority countries. It restricted the entry of refugees from countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. A U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the order after a judge temporarily blocked the ban.
Harris has been criticized by both parties for her stance on immigration. Republicans argue that she is soft on immigration policy and point to how she handled the border when she was vice president. At the same time, some Democrats do not approve of her new anti-immigrant stance, including building a border wall.
The two candidates faced off on the issue in their first and only debate in Philadelphia, where President Trump said that as “millions of people” flow into the United States, immigrants are “eating dogs and cats.” ” he famously said.
donald trump
President Trump’s stance on immigration has remained largely unchanged in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections. One of the main issues of Mr. Trump’s campaign is immigration policy, particularly along the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Trump frequently repeats the idea that illegal immigrants regularly commit crimes. The words “Mass Deportation Now” can be seen on the red, white and blue posters at his rallies. A 2024 study by the National Institute of Justice found that immigrants are arrested for violent crimes less than half as often as native-born Americans.
According to Ballotpedia, President Trump’s policies for this election include increased border security and deportations, ending catch-and-release programs, blocking funding for sanctuary jurisdictions, and requiring legal authorization. This includes suspending the employment and benefits of illegal immigrants who do not comply with the law.
In 2018, while he was president, Trump said, “They have to be hired on merit, and they will continue to be hired on merit.” “Communities often have to bear the burden of the influx and cost of illegal immigration. That cannot be tolerated. There are limits to how many people a state can responsibly admit into society.”
According to Ballotpedia, if Donald Trump is elected, foreign countries will consider canceling visas for their citizens if adequate vetting is not possible and preventing previously deported citizens from returning to the United States. It is said that they are doing so.
kamala harris
Harris has promoted immigration policy during her campaign as vice president. He said he doesn’t want to be seen as a continuation of Biden’s policies, instead stressing that he brings personal experience from his time as San Francisco district attorney to his work on border policy.
According to her website, she wants to keep border crossings at a low level and reinstate the “bipartisan border security bill” (S. 4361).
S. 4361 would establish an expedited process for determining certain asylum claims, tighten standards for individuals with pending asylum claims to remain in the United States, and require the Department of Homeland Security to keep non-U.S. It would give emergency powers to remove. southwest border.
But she believes immigration reform is needed to give immigrants a clearer path to citizenship.
“Our immigration system has been broken for a long time, even beyond Donald Trump’s administration,” Harris said in an interview on Fox News. “Let’s all be honest about that. I’m not proud to say this is a perfect immigration system. I definitely recognize, and I think everyone does, that this needs to be fixed.”
As California’s attorney general, she handed over immigrant juveniles to authorities when they were arrested, but took a tough stance against employers who didn’t treat immigrant workers well, NPR reported. In recent interviews and speeches, she has put her work as attorney general at the forefront of immigration policy.
