issues2000

Topics in the News: Refugee Crisis


Chase Oliver on Foreign Policy : Jul 23, 2023
Let NATO & Europe defend Ukraine; US takes refugees

As for Ukraine, Oliver said he believes U.S. support is exacerbating the conflict and does not support putting additional resources into that country's fight with Russia. Instead, he said NATO and European countries--whom he believes have the financial ability to support Ukraine--need to take the lead, as they're the one's directly threatened by Russian invasion. "I would push our military footprint back," he said. "I think us contributing to a proxy war in the region is not great."

However, Oliver said the United States should be focused on "working to get every single refugee" out of Ukraine, along with Russian dissidents, and granting them asylum in the U.S.

Click for Chase Oliver on other issues.   Source: Cedar Rapids Gazette on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Marianne Williamson on Energy & Oil : Jun 6, 2023
I will treat global warming problem holistically

As president, I will treat the problem holistically. Global warming harms the weather patterns which harms agriculture and animals which harms people's capacity to live in certain areas which harms the city-to-rural ratio which harms social stability which creates a refugee crisis which all together lead toward untold catastrophe. What is imperative is that we awaken now and take immediate, bold steps to change course.
Click for Marianne Williamson on other issues.   Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website Marianne2024.com

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Immigration : May 15, 2023
War on Drugs creates desperate conditions south of border

In January, President Biden announced several new immigration policies, including an increase of the use of expedited removal, the tripling of refugee resettlement from the Western Hemisphere, increasing humanitarian assistance in Mexico and Central America, and a surge in resources to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kennedy Jr. has recently knocked Biden's immigration policies, criticizing him for not closing the border. "It's not racist or insensitive to say that we need to close our borders and have an orderly immigration policy. I would expand legal immigration to this country that's orderly, that makes sense for our country, but also that our borders are impervious," he said, according to the New York Post.

He also tweeted that he would change U.S. policy in Central America, including ending the "War on Drugs" and "neoliberal extraction of resources," which he said "create desperate conditions south of the border" that compel migrants to seek to immigrate to the U.S.

Click for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on other issues.   Source: Newsweek magazine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Joe Biden on Immigration : May 15, 2023
Let Title 42 expire: more humanitarian asylum policy

Biden has sought to establish a more humanitarian-focused approach to immigration than his predecessors. He supported letting Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy that allows the U.S. to return migrants to their home countries without the former asylum process, expire.

In January, Biden announced several new immigration policies, including an increase of the use of expedited removal, the tripling of refugee resettlement from the Western Hemisphere, increasing humanitarian assistance in Mexico and Central America, and a surge in resources to the U.S.-Mexico border.

He has also introduced a policy crackdown last month that could disqualify a vast majority of migrants from being able to seek asylum at the southern border, sparking criticism from some progressives.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently knocked Biden's immigration policies: "It's not racist or insensitive to say that we need to close our borders and have an orderly immigration policy," he said.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Newsweek magazine on 2023 Presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Immigration : Mar 4, 2023
I will sign a colossal increase in ICE deportation offices

Millions of illegal aliens are stampeding across our border. Interior enforcement has been shut down. Everyone is overstaying their visas. My wonderful travel ban, it was so wonderful. Refugee numbers are through the roof and spies and terrorists are infiltrating our country, totally unchecked. When I'm back in the White House, the very first reconciliation bill that I will sign will be for a massive increase in border patrol and a colossal increase in the number of ICE deportation offices.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Speech at the 2023 CPAC Conference in Maryland

JD Vance on War & Peace : Nov 1, 2022
Oppose BDS movement to pressure Israel out of territories

Q: I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.

A: Strongly Disagree

Q: The Chinese Communist Party poses serious military, cyber security, intellectual property, and global economic threats to the United States.

A: Strongly Agree

Click for JD Vance on other issues.   Source: American Family Association 2022 iVoterGuide

JD Vance on War & Peace : Oct 3, 2021
Only global elites profit from endless nation-building wars

For two decades, global elites have played a trick on normal Americans: send your sons and daughters to die for nation-building wars in some far flung corner of the world, and when their utopian fantasies fail, accept millions of refugees into middle and working class neighborhoods. This is a bad deal for Americans, a bad deal for our troops, a bad deal for the refugees, but a good deal for the elites who profit from endless war.
Click for JD Vance on other issues.   Source: 2021 OH Senate campaign website JDVance.com

Joe Biden on Immigration : May 3, 2021
Refugee cap up from 15,000 to 62,500, but promised 125,000

PROMISE MADE: (JoeBiden.com website, 6/20/20): As President, I will increase the number of refugees we welcome into this country, setting an annual global refugee target of 125,000--up from a ceiling of 18,000 under Trump--and will seek to further raise it over time. I will support efforts to work with Congress in a bipartisan fashion to protect our refugee policy from drastic and arbitrary reductions we have seen during the Trump Administration.

PROMISE PARTLY KEPT: (WhiteHouse.gov, 5/3/21): I am revising the annual refugee admissions cap to 62,500. This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America's values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees. The new admissions cap will also reinforce efforts that are already underway to expand the United States' capacity to admit refugees, so that we can reach the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions that I intend to set for the coming fiscal year.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Campaign website versus Biden Administration promises

Joe Biden on Immigration : Apr 22, 2021
Promised 125,000 refugees; but accepted fewer than Trump

PROMISE MADE: (Remarks by Pres. Biden on America's place in the world, 2/4/21): This executive order will position us to be able to raise the refugee admissions back up to 125,000 persons for the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris administration.

PROMISE CONFIRMED: (Proposed Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions, 2/12/21): This report proposes providing allocations by region, with a new FY 2021 admissions number of 62,500 refugees.

PROMISE BROKEN: (NBC News, 4/16/21): Biden will not increase the number of refugees allowed to enter the U.S. this year. Biden notified Congress in February that he would increase the number of refugees allowed to enter the country from 15,000 to 62,500. But he never signed the presidential determination that would actually raise the cap. Analysis: Biden is on track to accept the fewest refugees this year of any modern president, including Trump.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: NPR on Biden Administration promises

Joe Biden on Civil Rights : Feb 4, 2021
Reverse ban on transgender individuals serving in military

To further repair our moral leadership, I'm issuing a presidential memo to agencies to reinvigorate our leadership on the LGBTQI issues and do it internationally. You know, we'll ensure diplomacy and foreign assistance are working to promote the rights of those individuals, included by combatting criminalization and protecting LGBTQ refugees and asylum-seekers.

And finally, to successfully reassert our diplomacy and keep Americans safe, prosperous, and free, we must restore the health and morale of our foreign policy institutions.

The United States will again lead not just by the example of our power but the power of our example. Within hours of taking office, I signed an executive order overturning the hateful, discriminatory Muslim ban; reversed the ban on transgender individuals serving in our military.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Manchester Ink Link on 2020 New Hampshire Senate race

Joe Biden on Immigration : Feb 4, 2021
Restore refugee admissions program: 125,000 people this year

We face a crisis of more than 80 million displaced people suffering all around the world. The United States' moral leadership on refugee issues was a point of bipartisan consensus for so many decades when I first got here. We shined the light of liberty on oppressed people. We offered safe havens for those fleeing violence or persecution. And our example pushed other nations to open wide their doors as well.

So today, I'm approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need. It's going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged, but that's precisely what we're going to do.

This executive order will position us to be able to raise the refugee admissions back up to 125,000 persons for the first full fiscal year of the Biden-Harris administration. And I'm directing the State Department to consult with Congress about making a down payment on that commitment as soon as possible.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Remarks by Pres. Biden on "America's Place in the World"

Joe Biden on Immigration : Feb 4, 2021
Revoke Trump's ban on refugees seeking asylum

PROMISE MADE: (Miami Herald OpEd, 6/24/19): Our asylum system needs to be improved--strengthen it so that it benefits legitimate claims of those fleeing persecution, while reducing potential for abuse.

PROMISE PARTLY KEPT: (Executive Order Feb. 4, 2021): Sec. 2. Revocation, Rescission, and Reporting. (a) Executive Order 13815 of October 24, 2017 (Resuming the United States Refugee Admissions Program With Enhanced Vetting Capabilities), and Executive Order 13888 of September 26, 2019 (Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement), are revoked.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Biden undid Trump's cancellation of refugee admissions. That DOES "improve" the asylum system, compared to what Trump did, but Biden's bigger promise is to improve the asylum system compared to what Obama did before Trump--that improvement is yet to be seen.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: White House press release on Biden Promises

Donald Trump on Immigration : Jan 20, 2021
Opposes Vatican view of multicultural global resettlement

An element of tension between Francis's world view and that of the United States (and that of an influential part of Christianity in America) is the theological and social understanding of the epochal crisis of our time: migrants and refugees. On this issue there is little difference, and indeed a visible convergence, between the visions of the U.S. Bishops and Francis, except for implications of the implicit support of some Bishops for Donald Trump. But there are deeply rooted cultural differences. For Francis, the church and the world are in a process of global resettlement. If the American establishment sees a world of settlers and a nation colonized by Christians, Francis looks and sees a world of re-settlers.

Francis's embrace of migrants and refugees has consequences for the meaning of religious freedom in a multicultural and multireligious world. From this point of view, between Francis's Vatican and Biden's White House there is a greater convergence than in the recent past.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Biden and Catholicism, by Massimo Faggioli, p. 74-75

Howie Hawkins on Foreign Policy : Jul 12, 2020
Supports a Palestinian right of return, and a single state

Click for Howie Hawkins on other issues.   Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful

Howie Hawkins on Immigration : Jul 12, 2020
All seeking asylum should be given permanent resident status

All persons fleeing political, racial, religious, or other types of persecution must be welcomed and given permanent resident status. The history of arbitrary denial of political asylum claims must be ended. Particular attention should be given to those minorities who are political exiles and refugees and those whose lives would be at risk if asylum is not granted.

We oppose the militarization of our borders, (mis)using the National Guard as border police, and building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. We call for the immediate dismantling of the border wall. We mourn the death of those thousands of men, women and children who have died trying to cross this border, where a couple of decades ago such deaths were virtually unheard of.

Click for Howie Hawkins on other issues.   Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful

Dean Phillips on Foreign Policy : Aug 1, 2019
Descendant of Jewish refugees who fled European pogroms

Phillips is the descendant of Jewish refugees who fled to the US to escape pogroms in eastern Europe. Phillips says his Jewish ancestors' escape from persecution spurs his battle against hate.

In March, Phillips demanded an apology from fellow Rep. Ilhan Omar after she charged that American supporters of Israel have "allegiance to a foreign country."

In his freshman term in Congress, Phillips took action to combat the many faces of hate--of Jews, of immigrants, and of "the other." While introducing a resolution condemning white nationalism, Phillips took time to reflect on his great-grandparents' journey. "I come from an immigrant family," he told how his great-grandparents told him of fleeing persecution to find refuge in the United States. Yet Minneapolis was far from a safe haven for Jews at the time. Phillips was told stories in his youth of the "horrid antisemitism" that his great-grandparents worked hard to fight against.

Click for Dean Phillips on other issues.   Source: 2020 MN-3 House campaign website phillips.house.gov

Bernie Sanders on Immigration : Jul 30, 2019
Xenophobia demonizes immigrants; refugees aren't criminals

Q: You want to provide undocumented immigrants free health care and free college. Why won't this drive even more people to come to the U.S. illegally?

SANDERS: No, because we'll have strong border protections. But the main point I want to make is that what Trump is doing through his racism and his xenophobia, is demonizing a group of people. And as president, I will end that demonization. If a mother and a child walk thousands of miles on a dangerous path, in my view, they are not criminals. They are people fleeing violence. And we've got to ask ourselves, "Why are people walking 2,000 miles to a strange country where they don't know the language?" So what we will do, the first week we are in the White House, is bring the entire hemisphere together to talk about how we rebuild Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador so people do not have to flee their own countries.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)

Kamala Harris on Immigration : Jul 9, 2019
2017: denounced Trump's refugee policy as "Muslim ban"

Kamala Harris is often credited with using the term "Muslim Ban" in connection of Trump's order to stop Muslim refugees from seeking asylum in the United States. In her statement, she begins by saying, " Make no mistake, this is a Muslim Ban" She explained that those Muslims running to America for safety may become tools in the hands of terrorists if they are rejected. In closing her speech, she said that refugees do not make America less safe, instead they add to the economy.
Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.   Source: The Democrats, by Alexander Moore, p.207

Mike Pence on Immigration : Jun 23, 2019
Close asylum loopholes: 90% don't show up in court

Q: What is to be done about asylum seekers who enter the country as refugees?

Pence: We want to end the days where people believe they can come into the country, make a claim of asylum from oppression or deprivation or violence in Central America or elsewhere, and then be released into the country on their own recognizance, only to vanish into the nation with 90% of the people never show up for their hearing in the months ahead. We have got to close the loopholes.

Q: I don't think that that number is accurate about 90 percent not showing up. I think a majority do show up.

Pence: People with a hearing that is scheduled six months, a year, 18 months later, the overwhelming majority, plus-90 percent, don't show up.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 interview

Donald Trump on Immigration : Apr 9, 2019
Refugees can't come in; sorry, we're full

With his recent speech before the Republican Jewish Coalition, Trump insinuated that American Jews have dual loyalties, specifically when he referred to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu as "your prime minister." Yet even more offensive was Trump's xenophobic rhetoric on immigration, uttered before an audience of Jews, an ethnic group that was victimized by immigration xenophobia during the Holocaust.

Specifically, in referring to refugees seeking asylum in America from political persecution in their native lands, Trump stated, "You can't come in. Our country is full. What can we do? We can't handle any more. Our country's full. You can't come in, I'm sorry."

These were literally the exact words antisemitic public officials used to justify America denying entry to European Jews fleeing Nazi extermination during the Holocaust.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: InsiderNJ.com on 2020 presidential hopefuls

Kamala Harris on Immigration : Mar 14, 2019
Due process & right to counsel, for asylum seekers

My first bill in the United States Senate was Access to Counsel Act to ensure that nobody would be denied access to counsel when they're going through these hearings around refugee status and around asylum. I disagree with any policy that would turn America's back on people who are fleeing harm. I would not enforce a law that would reject people and turn them away without giving them a fair and due process to determine if we should give them asylum and refuge.
Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.   Source: NPR Morning Edition: Election 2020 Special Series

Joe Biden on Homeland Security : Feb 16, 2019
Refugee policy is an embarrassment

[In Germany, Biden said] "The America I see values basic human decency, not snatching children from their parents or turning our back on refugees at our border. Americans know that's not right." The former vice president told the Munich Security Conference, "The American people understand plainly that this makes us an embarrassment. The American people know, overwhelmingly, that it is not right. That it is not who we are."
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Washington Examiner on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls

Dean Phillips on Immigration : Feb 14, 2019
Pathway to citizenship for qualifying Liberian refugees

Phillips is an original sponsor to the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, aimed at providing legal status and a pathway to citizenship for qualifying Liberian refugees. "Minnesota is home to the largest Liberian population in the United States, and I'm proud to represent the vast majority of them," said Phillips. "Uprooting them after decades of living and working in our community would be inhumane and would cause extraordinary disruption to our local economy."
Click for Dean Phillips on other issues.   Source: Insight News on 2018 Congressional MN-3 election

Kamala Harris on Immigration : Feb 5, 2019
Welcome refugees and immigrants, instead of a border wall

The State of the Union has always been a chance for our President to rise above politics and unite the country with a vision that includes ALL Americans.

We need our leaders to speak the biggest truth of all: In the face of powerful forces that have been trying to sow hate and division among us, the truth is that as Americans we have much more in common than what separates us.

Let's fight for an America where we welcome refugees and immigrants, and where we fight for the dignity of all people-- no matter who they are, no matter what they look like or how they identify.

I want you all to listen closely [to Trump's State of the Union]. When you hear claims that our problems would all be solved if we just built a wall on our southern border, don't forget the babies ripped from their mothers' arms and the refugees fleeing violence who are being turned away.

The strength of our union has never been found in the walls we build. It's in our diversity and our unity--and that is our power.

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.   Source: Democratic prebuttal to the 2019 State of the Union speech

Joe Biden on Immigration : Jun 25, 2018
Focus on refugee asylum seekers at home in Northern Triangle

When President Trump signed an executive order ending the separation of children from their families at the border, it did not end the crisis in Central America. Nor should it relieve our moral anguish at seeing the poorest and most vulnerable treated in ways that are fundamentally at odds with our nation's values.

The moment also calls for a renewed focus on the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America--the countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which together represent the overwhelming source of migrants crossing our southern border. Unless we address the root causes driving migration from this region, any solutions focused solely on border protection and enforcement will be insufficient.

In 2014, [Pres. Obama and I saw that] migration from Central America could not be resolved merely by stronger enforcement at the US border, let alone by building a wall. Instead, we needed to tackle the drivers of migration: crime, violence, corruption and lack of opportunity.

Click for Joe Biden on other issues.   Source: Joe Biden OpEd in Washington Post (2020 Democratic primary)

Tim Walz on Immigration : Oct 25, 2017
Helped resettle countless immigrants into this community

Q: If elected governor, what will you do to fight the scapegoating and demonization and persecution of immigrants and refugees?

Walz: Talking about his first campaign where Rep. Steve King from Iowa campaigned against him, Walz said, "Two days after I was elected, I was in the church with Fr. Brixius in Worthington in the basement after the ICE raid there. Over the years, my office has helped resettle countless people into this community."

Click for Tim Walz on other issues.   Source: Post-Bulletin on 2018 Minnesota governor debate

Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy : Sep 21, 2017
UN is bureaucratic, but does enormously important work

One of the most important organizations for promoting a vision of a different world is the United Nations. It has become fashionable to bash the UN. And yes, the UN needs to be reformed. It can be ineffective, bureaucratic, too slow or unwilling to act, even in the face of massive atrocities, as we are seeing in Syria right now. But to see only its weaknesses is to overlook the enormously important work the UN does in promoting global health, aiding refugees, monitoring elections, and doing international peacekeeping missions, among other things. All of these activities contribute to reduced conflict, to wars that don't have to be ended because they never start.

At the end of the day, it is obvious that it makes far more sense to have a forum in which countries can debate their concerns, work out compromises and agreements. Dialogue and debate are far preferable to bombs, poison gas, and war.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: Westminster College speech in Where We Go From Here, p. 98-9

Bernie Sanders on Energy & Oil : Aug 29, 2017
Rising oceans creating world's first "climate refugees"

Rising oceans are already creating the world's first "climate refugees." Residents of the Maldives are abandoning some of the lower-lying islands as the ocean rises. Closer to home, residents of Isle de Jean Charles in southeastern Louisiana, are preparing to leave as their land disappears.

Unless we drastically change course in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, temperatures will continue to rise. Millions of people will be displaced by rising sea levels, extreme weather events, & flooding.

The growing scarcity of basic human needs could well lead to perpetual warfare in regions around the world, as people fight over limited supplies of water, farmland, and other natural resources. A world in which we see mass migrations of people is not going to be a safe or stable world. That's not just my opinion--that is the opinion of leading national security experts in our country and throughout the world. Yes, climate change is our nation's great national security threat.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: Guide to Political Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p.127-30

Nikki Haley on Immigration : Mar 29, 2017
Refugee ban: What we did was take a pause

Q: What do you think of the administration curtailing immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

HALEY: I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. I believe that the fabric of America is legal immigration. This is not about not wanting people in. This is about keeping the terrorists out. We should never ban based on religion, I mean, period. We should never. And I don't think that's what this is. We will never close our doors in the United States. We won't. But what we did do was take a pause.

Click for Nikki Haley on other issues.   Source: Council on Foreign Relations on Trump Cabinet

Donald Trump on Immigration : Mar 6, 2017
Protect America by banning refugees from terrorist countries

The Trump administration today announced a new Muslim ban executive order entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry". [The original Jan. 2017 order reduces to 50,000 the annual number of refugees allowed from 7 Muslim countries, and sets the number allowed from Syria to zero. After a court found that unconstitutional, the March 2017 order replaced the list of 7 countries with Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, for 90 days]. The director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project had this reaction:

"The Trump administration has conceded that its original Muslim ban was indefensible. Unfortunately, it has replaced it with a scaled-back version that shares the same fatal flaws. The only way to actually fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban. Instead, Pres. Trump has recommitted himself to religious discrimination. The changes the Trump administration has made completely undermine the bogus national security justifications the president has tried to hide behind.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: ACLU Fact-Check of Trump Administration promises & actions

Bernie Sanders on Immigration : Feb 12, 2017
Refugee vetting mechanisms we have now are very, very strong

Q: Do you think the current procedures that we have to vet refugees coming into this country, do you think it needs to be improved?

SANDERS: The vetting mechanisms we have now are very, very strong. If anybody has an idea as to how we can make them stronger, let's go forward. I don't think there's any debate whether you're progressive, conservative or anybody else that we want to keep the United States safe and we want to be 100% clear that anybody who comes into this country should not be coming into this country to do us harm. Where there's a whole lot of discussion about the racist, in my view, immigration policies of the Trump administration which are based on anti-Muslim ideology, which are doing us enormous harm all over the world, something else is going on at the exact same moment.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: Meet the Press 2017 interview by Chuck Todd

Mike Pence on Immigration : Feb 5, 2017
Travel ban is constitutional & judges shouldn't overturn it

Q: Is there a danger to the U.S. now that these banned immigrants and refugees are again allowed to travel to the U.S.? And what do you think about the federal appeals court's decision not to allow the travel ban?

PENCE: President Trump has made it clear that he is going to put the safety and security of the American people first. And the executive order that he signed suspending travel from countries that have been compromised by terror is consistent with that objective, and also it's consistent with his powers as president.

Q: But a federal court of appeals--

PENCE: We believe the judge made the wrong decision. We're going to continue to use all legal means at our disposal to stay that order and move forward to take the steps necessary to protect our country. We don't appoint judges to our district courts to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about the national security. That authority belongs to the president of the United States.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: Fox News Sunday 2017 interview by Chris Wallace

Jill Stein on Foreign Policy : Oct 9, 2016
US helped create refugee crisis, so we should help them

Q: The U.S. has taken in about 12,000 Syrian refugees over the past year. Why take the risk of having those refugees coming into the country?

Hillary Clinton: I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees who are women and children.

Jill Stein: There is a refugee crisis created in large part by US military interventions. We need to do our part by taking in refugees.

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Stein Twitter posts on Second 2016 Presidential Debate

Jill Stein on Free Trade : Oct 9, 2016
NAFTA destroyed jobs in US and Mexico

Donald Trump: I will be a president that will bring jobs back because NAFTA, signed by her husband, is perhaps the greatest disaster trade deal in the history of the world.

Jill Stein: The Clintons' support for NAFTA destroyed millions of jobs, including in Mexico where many farmers became economic refugees.

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Stein Twitter posts on Second 2016 Presidential Debate

Mike Pence on Foreign Policy : Oct 4, 2016
Trump for extreme vetting of immigrants and no Syrians

Q: Does the Trump/Pence campaign call for barring Syrian refugees?

A: Trump has called for extreme vetting for people coming into this country so that we don't bring people into the United States who are hostile to the American way life. Donald Trump and I are committed to suspending the Syrian refugee program and programs and immigration from areas of the world that have been compromised by terrorism.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University

Mike Pence on Homeland Security : Oct 4, 2016
Bar Syrian refugees so ISIS cannot infiltrate America

KAINE: Mike Pence put a program in place to keep refugees out if they're from Syria. And yesterday an appellate court with three Republican judges struck down the Pence plan and said it was discriminatory.

PENCE: Right. Those judges said it was because there wasn't any evidence yet that ISIS had infiltrated the United States. Well, Germany just arrested three Syrian refugees that were connected to ISIS.

KAINE: But they told you there's a right way and a wrong way to do it.

PENCE: Look, if you're going to be critical of me on that, that's fair game. I will tell you, after two Syrian refugees were involved in the attack in Paris that is called Paris' 9/11, as governor of the state of Indiana, I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state. So you bet I suspended that program. And I stand by that decision. And if I'm vice president of the United States or Donald Trump is president, we're going to put the safety and security of the American people first.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University

Mike Pence on Homeland Security : Oct 4, 2016
Bar Syrian refugees so ISIS cannot infiltrate America

KAINE: Mike Pence put a program in place to keep refugees out if they're from Syria. And yesterday an appellate court with three Republican judges struck down the Pence plan and said it was discriminatory.

PENCE: Right. Those judges said it was because there wasn't any evidence yet that ISIS had infiltrated the United States. Well, Germany just arrested three Syrian refugees that were connected to ISIS.

KAINE: But they told you there's a right way and a wrong way to do it.

PENCE: Look, if you're going to be critical of me on that, that's fair game. I will tell you, after two Syrian refugees were involved in the attack in Paris that is called Paris' 9/11, as governor of the state of Indiana, I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state. So you bet I suspended that program. And I stand by that decision. And if I'm vice president of the United States or Donald Trump is president, we're going to put the safety and security of the American people first.

Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University

Jill Stein on Homeland Security : Aug 25, 2016
$6 trillion to pay for wounded veterans from failed wars

It will cost us $6 trillion including our ongoing healthcare expenditures, for the wounded soldiers, just from Iraq and Afghanistan alone. $6 trillion and tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers that have been wounded or killed and a million people killed in Iraq alone, which is not winning us the hearts and minds of people in the Middle East. And what do we have to show for it? Failed states, mass refugee migrations which are tearing apart Europe and the Middle East, and worse terrorist threats, in fact. It's widely acknowledged that ISIS grew out of the catastrophe in Iraq. Al Qaeda itself grew out of the chaos in Afghanistan and the efforts of the U.S. and the Saudis to create an international jihadi movement in order to disrupt the efforts of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. So with one hand we fight terrorism, we and our allies, but with the other hand, we and our allies have also supported terrorist movements and terrorist organizations. And this is not working.
Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Wash. Post editorial board on 2016 presidential hopefuls

Jill Stein on Homeland Security : Aug 17, 2016
Peace offensive: shut down bases, F-35, & Saudi funding

Stein's recounting of the US' "War on Terror" was one of a protracted and brutal failure: "We have a track record now of fighting terrorism--this track record is not looking so good," Stein said. "We have killed a million people in Iraq alone."

After recounting the toll in money and human life the US' counterterror efforts, Stein said: "What do we have to show for this? Failed states, mass refugee migrations and repeated terrorist threats."

Stein called for a full rethinking of the War on Terror: "We are calling for a new kind of offensive, a peace offensive in the Middle East," Stein said. The "peace offensive" would include an embargo on weapons sales and a freeze on funding to states that support "jihadi terrorist enterprises," she said, pointing to Saudi Arabia in particular. She called for a massive cut in military spending, including the closure of many bases, a shutdown of the F-35 program and not moving forward with the modernization of the US nuclear weapons program.

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Eli Watkins, CNN, joint interview of Stein and Baraka

Mike Pence on Immigration : May 21, 2016
Temporarily suspend immigration from terrorist havens

"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorists represent a threat to the United States," Pence said. Pence insisted that "we got to do something different." "The American people need to know who these people are. We have a proud tradition of refugee resettlement in my own state of Indiana -- but that has to be subordinated to the safety and security of the American people."
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: Fox News on 2016 Veepstakes, "Pence echoes Trump"

Doug Burgum on Immigration : May 5, 2016
Consider filing a lawsuit over refugee resettlement

Burgum said, "when North Dakota withdrew from the federal refugee resettlement program, the Federal Government, with questionable authority to do so, selected the non-profit Lutheran Social Services to oversee the refugee program in North Dakota. While I have tremendous compassion for these refugees, this action amounts to federal overreach. Filing a lawsuit against the federal government shouldn't be taken lightly, but it is certainly an option that deserves consideration and debate."
Click for Doug Burgum on other issues.   Source: Breitbart.com on 2016 North Dakota gubernatorial race

Jill Stein on Homeland Security : Apr 18, 2016
Slash dangerously bloated military budget by at least 50%

On Tax Day, Stein calls for massive cut in dangerous, bloated military spending: "The best way to reign in wasteful federal spending is to slash the dangerously bloated military budget by at least 50%," said Stein. In addition to bankrupting us financially and morally, the inflated military budget has created a trigger-happy foreign policy, leading to disastrous military interventions and regime change. In the Middle East, this has produced failed states, mass refugee migrations, and ever-worsening terrorist threats.

Stein added, "Instead of needless and destructive wars, that make us less safe not more safe, it's time to bring our tax dollars home to rebuild America." President Obama has requested roughly $600 billion for this year's Pentagon budget. "If we include spending on nuclear weapons, Veterans Administration costs, and the military's portion of the national debt, we are spending over $1 trillion on the military each year."

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: 2016 presidential campaign website, Jill2016.com

Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy : Feb 11, 2016
America stands for hope; we should take Syrian refugees

CLINTON: This is a humanitarian catastrophe. The US has to support our allies in Europe. We have to provide financial support. We have to provide the NATO support to back up the mission that is going on. And we have to take properly vetted refugees ourselves.

SANDERS: I went to a Turkish refugee camp on the border of Syria. What a sad sight: Men, women, children forced out of their homes. Turkey did a decent thing, providing reasonable housing and conditions for people. Given our history as a nation that has been a beacon of hope for the oppressed, for the downtrodden, that I very strongly disagree with those Republican candidates who say we've got to turn our backs on women and children who left their home with nothing. That is not what America is supposed to be about. I think that the entire world needs to come together to deal with this horrific refugee crisis.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: 2016 PBS Democratic debate in Wisconsin on Syrian Refugees

Donald Trump on Immigration : Jan 14, 2016
It's not fear of terrorist refugees; it's reality

It's not fear and terror, it's reality. When I look at the migration, I looked at the line, I said, where are the women? It looked like very few women. Very few children. Strong, powerful men, and people are looking at that and they're saying what's going on? We can't let people come into our country and break our borders.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: Fox Business Republican 2-tier debate

Nikki Haley on Immigration : Jan 12, 2016
Don't follow the siren call of anti-immigration anger

During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.

No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.

At the same time, that does not mean we just flat out open our borders. We can't do that. We cannot continue to allow immigrants to come here illegally. And in this age of terrorism, we must not let in refugees whose intentions cannot be determined.

Click for Nikki Haley on other issues.   Source: Republican Party response to 2016 State of the Union speech

Jill Stein on Immigration : Jan 12, 2016
We're deporting more immigrants than ever, 2.5M under Obama

The immigration crisis also needs an immediate remedy. In addition to deporting a record 2.5 million immigrants, more than any past president, Obama's recent night raids and deportations of Central American families and children are inhumane and morally reprehensible. These families came here as refugees from violence, poverty and chaos created by US policies like NAFTA, the war on drugs, and political and military interventions. It's no coincidence that the three most violent countries in Central America--El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala--are failed states resulting from US interventions that overthrew democratically elected progressive governments.

OnTheIssues Note: See related FactCheck; this 2.5M figure only includes "removals," not "returns". Counting "returns" as well, Obama deported fewer total immigrants than George Bush Jr or Ronald Reagan, but more than Bill Clinton.

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Green Party response to 2016 State of the Union speech

Jill Stein on Immigration : Jan 12, 2016
Deportation of vulnerable refugees is morally abhorrent

Obama's recent night raids and deportations of Central American families and children are inhumane and morally reprehensible. Deportation of these vulnerable, abused refugees is morally abhorrent. We are all immigrants in this country--with the exception of native Americans. The diversity of multicultural immigrant America has always been the core strength of our nation. Our 12 million undocumented immigrants are hardworking, tax-paying community residents who take the hardest and worst paid jobs. They should be celebrated, not intimidated with the threat of deportation. It's time to create a welcoming path to citizenship and put an immediate end to the shameful era of deportations and detentions. Fundamentally, the immigration crisis must be resolved by ending the harmful US policies (including drug wars, predatory trade agreements, and political and military interventions) that are turning whole populations into refugees to start with.
Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Green Party response to 2016 State of the Union speech

Kamala Harris on Foreign Policy : Nov 22, 2015
The way to keep us safe is NOT to keep outsiders out

Accept Syrian refugees? The desire for a middle ground was evident in interviews with some California candidates for the 2016 U.S. Senate contest.

California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris said in an interview that she opposed the GOP measure because it set up an "untenable" system. Beyond the current 18-to-24 month vetting process, it would have required top federal officials to certify that individual refugees pose no threat. She recalled a heart-rending photo of a drowned Syrian toddler, part of a refugee family torn apart while trying to escape: "We can't allow the images of the tragedy of what happened in Paris to blind us to the image of a 3-year-old child who washed up on a Mediterranean beach." She said, "There is a drum beating, that the way to keep us safe is to keep outsiders out. That scares me. Ask native Americans: We are a country of immigrants." But, she added, "there's no question that we have to be vigilant."

Click for Kamala Harris on other issues.   Source: LA Times, "Syrian Refugees?" on 2016 California Senate race

Chris Christie on Homeland Security : Nov 22, 2015
Syrian refugees cannot be vetted; don't allow any into US

Q: You recently stated that you don't want to accept any Syrian refugees, not even orphans under 5. Does a 5-year-old orphan need to be vetted? Senator Rubio said yesterday: "If it's a 5-year-old child, that's pretty easy to vet." Why are they dangerous to the United States to take them in? Why should the United States not be helping these desperate people?

CHRISTIE: First of all, the FBI director himself said they can't vet these folks. Secondly, we had a woman who was wearing an explosive vest in Paris who blew herself up when approached by police this week.

Q: The police actually have said that, as they have studied that crime scene further, she was not wearing a suicide vest, although her role with the terrorists is still unknown. CHRISTIE: [With vetting orphans], I don't understand the distinction, quite frankly. And what we need to do is to protect the homeland first.

Click for Chris Christie on other issues.   Source: CNN SOTU 2015 interview series on Syrian Refugee crisis

Chris Christie on Homeland Security : Nov 22, 2015
Obama created refugee crisis; now burdens Americans with it

Q: About 75 Syrian refugees have already settled in your home state of New Jersey since the start of the year, according to new data from the State Department. Should they be ousted from your state?

CHRISTIE: This is part of the problem with this administration. They're an imperial administration that just decides they're going to place people in individual states and not even inform the state of government of the fact that they have done it. And they're placing them through nongovernmental organizations and not giving any information to the state governments. We should set up a safe haven in Syria, so these folks don't have to leave their country in the first place. This is something that the president has created and now he wants the American people to absorb this crisis that he has created.

Click for Chris Christie on other issues.   Source: CNN SOTU 2015 interview series: 2016 presidential hopefuls

Donald Trump on Immigration : Nov 22, 2015
Need to keep database of Muslim refugees

Q: You did stir up a controversy with those comments about a database for all US Muslims--but are you now unequivocally now ruling out a database on all Muslims?

TRUMP: No, not at all. I want a database for the refugees that come into the country. We have no idea who these people are. When the Syrian refugees are going to start pouring into this country, we don't know if they're ISIS, we don't know if it's a Trojan horse.

And I definitely want a database and other checks and balances. We want to go with watchlists.

Q: Just for the record, though, the statistics do show the majority of the refugees coming in are women and children.

Click for Donald Trump on other issues.   Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview on Syrian Refugee crisis

Asa Hutchinson on Foreign Policy : Nov 16, 2015
Europe, Asia or Africa are better for Syrian refugees

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he opposes Syrian refugees being relocated to Arkansas. Hutchinson, a former undersecretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security, said he doesn't believe the U.S. should be a permanent place of relocation for the refugees and that he thinks Europe, Asia or Africa are logically the best places for resettlement or temporary asylum.
Click for Asa Hutchinson on other issues.   Source: ABC News on Syrian Refugee Crisis

Chris Christie on Homeland Security : Nov 16, 2015
No Syrian refugees in US, not even infant orphans

Gov. Chris Christie says he's opposed to any Syrian refugees entering the country--even infant orphans. Christie's comments came during conservative host Hugh Hewitt's radio show. They were a complete reversal from September, when the Republican presidential contender said U.S. should "play their role" in taking in refugees without committing to a specific number after a photograph of a dead migrant child humanized the migrant influx.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.   Source: ABC News on Syrian Refugee Crisis

Nikki Haley on Homeland Security : Nov 16, 2015
Persecuted immigrants are welcome--but not Syrian refugees

Gov. Nikki Haley says she supports allowing persecuted immigrants to come to South Carolina--as long as they're not from Syria. Republicans in the state Legislature called on Haley to oppose all international refugees. But the Republican governor said as long as nothing changes in who is being resettled in the state, neither will her stance.
Click for Nikki Haley on other issues.   Source: ABC News on Syrian Refugee Crisis

Mike Pence on Immigration : Nov 16, 2015
Suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees

Republican Gov. Mike Pence announced that he was ordering state agencies to suspend the relocation of any more Syrian refugees to Indiana until he receives assurances from the federal government that proper security measures have been taken.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.   Source: ABC News on Syrian Refugee Crisis

Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy : Nov 14, 2015
Moral responsibility to reach out to Syrian refugees

Q: You've been a little vague on what you would do about the Syrian refugees. What's your view on them now?

SANDERS: I believe that the US has the moral responsibility with Europe, with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia to make sure that when people leave countries like Afghanistan and Syria with nothing more than the clothing on their back that, of course, we reach out. Now, what the magic number is, I don't know, because we don't know the extent of the problem. But I certainly think that the US should take its full responsibility in helping those people.

Q: Gov. O'Malley, you have a magic number. I think it's 65,000.

O'MALLEY: I was the first person on this stage to say that we should accept the 65,000 Syrian refugees that were fleeing the sort of murder of ISIL, and I believe that that needs to be done with proper screening. But accommodating 65,000 refugees in our country today, people of 320 million, is akin to making room for 6.5 more people in a baseball stadium with 32,000.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: 2015 CBS Democratic primary debate on Syrian Refugees

Jill Stein on Foreign Policy : Sep 23, 2015
Take 65,000 Syrian refugees immediately, not over 18 months

Stein called for admitting at least 65,000 refugees from Syria and elsewhere to the US as a first step in addressing the refugee crisis. She pointed out that the refugees are a tragic symptom of a much bigger underlying disease that also needs an immediate response: "As a doctor I know that in order to fix a deadly symptom, you have to treat the underlying deadly disease. Much of the refugee crisis stems directly from disastrous US military interventions in the Middle East. This vicious cycle must stop here. We should initiate an arms embargo to the region, compel the Saudis to stop funding ISIS, & get Turkey to stop allowing militias to cross their border to fight for ISIS."

The International Rescue Committee has called for the US to take at least 65,000 refugees from Syria's civil war rather than the 10,000 proposed by Obama. Stein criticized the Obama administration plan to take up to 18 months to screen refugees as "a bureaucratic nightmare than will only increase pain & suffering."

Click for Jill Stein on other issues.   Source: Campaign press release on Syrian Refugee crisis

Bernie Sanders on Foreign Policy : Sep 13, 2015
Address humanitarian crisis in Syria with allies in region

Q: The UN wants up to 65,000 Syrians placed here. How many refugees do you think the US should take in?

SANDERS: I think it's impossible to give a proper number until we understand the dimensions of the problem. What I do believe is that Europe, the United States and, by the way, countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, must address this humanitarian crisis. People are leaving Iraq, they're leaving Syria with just the clothes on their backs. The world has got to respond. The United States should be part of that response.

Q: When it comes to Syria, how much of the problem is the United States' fault, of policy, whether Bush in Iraq or Obama in Syria?

SANDERS: Look, I voted against the war in Iraq; much of what I feared would happen, in fact, did happen: Massive destabilization in that region. The issue now is not who is at fault. The issue is now what we do. And what we do is bring the region together.

Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.   Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls

  • Additional quotations related to Refugee Crisis issues can be found under Foreign Policy.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Foreign Policy.
Candidates on Foreign Policy:


2024 Presidential primary contenders:
Gov.Doug Burgum (R-ND)
Gov.Chris Christie (R-NJ)
Gov.Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
Larry Elder (R-CA)
Rep.Will Hurd (R-FL)
Gov.Nikki Haley (R-SC)
Gov.Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
Perry Johnson (R-IL)
Mayor Steve Laffey (R-RI)
V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN)
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Secy.Corey Stapleton (R-MT)
Mayor Francis Suarez (R-FL)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
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Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party)
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Sen.JD Vance (Republican V.P. nominee)
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Dr.Cornel West (People's Party)

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Joe Maldonado (Libertarian Party)
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