Andrew Yang on Immigration Democratic Presidential Challenger & Tech CEO

America has been magnet for human capital for generations

YANG: My father grew up on a peanut farm in Asia with no floor and now his son is running for president. That is the immigration story that we have to be able to share with the American people.

If you look at our history, almost half of Fortune 500 companies were founded by either immigrants or children of immigrants. And rates of business formation are much higher in immigrant communities. We have to say to the American people, immigrants are positive for our economic and social dynamism, and I would return the level of legal immigration to the point it was under the Obama-Biden administration.

This country has been a magnet for human capital for generations. If we lose that, we lose something integral to our continued success. And that is where I would lead as president.

Compete for talent from abroad, but not a merit system

YANG: I think we have to compete for talent and I am the opposite of Donald Trump in many ways. He says, "build a wall." I'm going to say to immigrants, "come to America, because if you come here, your son our daughter can run for president." My father grew up on a peanut farm in Asia with no floor and now his son is running for president. "And this is where you want to build a company, build a family, and build a life."

Immigrants are being scapegoated; blame the machines

12M illegal immigrants is a major problem

A: "We have over 12 million undocumented immigrants here in America and that is a major problem."

Q: When did your family first arrive in the United States, and how?

A: "My parents immigrated to the United States in the 1960s. They were both students."

Immigrants make US stronger and more dynamic

Need more case workers & judges at southern border

Come out of shadows with long-term permanent residency

As President, I will...
• Secure the southern border and drastically decrease the number of illegal entries into the US
• Provide a new tier of long-term permanent residency for anyone who has been here illegally for a substantial amount of time so that they can come out of the shadows and enter the formal economy and become full members of the community.
• This new tier would permit individuals to work and stay in the country, provided they pay their taxes and don't get convicted of a felony.
• This tier would put them on a longer, eighteen-year path to citizenship (the same amount of time it takes those born in the US to get full citizenship rights), reflecting our desire to bring them into our country but also their decision to circumvent legal immigration channels.
• Invest heavily in an information campaign to inform immigrant communities of this new tier of residency, and deport any undocumented immigrant who doesn't proactively enroll in the program.

Deporting 11 million is impossible and inhumane

Boost funding for U.S. ports of entry

• Immigration: A pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
• Yang would create a new "tier of long-term permanent residency" that would allow immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally to attain citizenship in 18 years.
• If they register for the new tier, undocumented immigrants who have lived illegally in the country for "a substantial amount of time" would be able to work and live in U.S., while they wait to become citizens, so long as they pay taxes and do not receive any felony convictions.
• As part of his immigration plan, Yang would also boost funding for U.S. ports of entry, improve technology to secure the southern border and strengthen environmental protections along the Rio Grande.
• Yang also supports the DREAM Act, a proposal aimed at protecting young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children.

Supports the DREAM Act