PBS News Hour: on Immigration

Joe Sestak: Establish path to citizenship, end family separation

Tom Steyer: Fight deportation and expand services for immigrants

Bill de Blasio: Created city ID so undocumented immigrants get healthcare

De Blasio believes everyone should be guaranteed the right to health care, including undocumented immigrants.

As mayor, de Blasio pushed to make New York City a so-called "sanctuary city" that limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It's a practice the Trump administration has vigorously opposed. He also announced a health care plan and created a city ID for undocumented immigrants. Under de Blasio, the city also sued the Trump administration when it attempted to withhold of federal grants that were tied to cooperation with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Steve Bullock: Refused to send National Guard troops to the southern border

Eric Swalwell: Visit Northern Triangle to gain compassion for those fleeing

The congressman supported the bipartisan immigration reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013 (the bill died in the House), as well as legislation to protect so-called "DREAMers," immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as minors.

Andrew Yang: 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.

Beto O`Rourke: Path to citizenship for all DREAMers

• During his six years in Congress, O'Rourke represented a border area in Texas.
• He believes the border is secure, and would give legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants in the country now.
• He has said he would like so-called "Dreamers," who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, to get citizenship "today."
• O'Rourke says he is "open" to the idea of abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, so long as there is a plan to transfer the agency's core responsibilities elsewhere.

John Hickenlooper: Family separation policy is cruel and un-American

• Immigration and border security: Opposes family separation policy.
• Hickenlooper signed an executive order as governor prohibiting the use of Colorado state resources to help implement the Trump administration's family separation policy at the southern border, calling the policy "cruel and un-American."
• Hickenlooper also did not send any National Guard troops to the southern border when Trump called on governors to do so in 2018.

Bernie Sanders: Restructure ICE; don't necessarily abolish it

• Immigration: Path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants. Restructure, don't necessarily abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Most undocumented immigrants who are in the country now would receive a path to citizenship under Sanders' immigration plan.
• He voted for the 2013 Senate immigration bill that proposed a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, doubling the number of border patrol officers, and providing an additional 350 miles of border fencing. (That bill did not become law.)
• Sanders would like to restructure ICE. But he has not given details and has not gone so far as to say that he thinks the agency should be "abolished," a position some of his 2020 Democratic rivals have taken.

Bill Weld: Trump's deportation policy is like Nazi Germany

• Immigration and border security: Opposes Trump's deportation policies. Supports some form of legal status for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
• In 2016, Weld was highly critical of Trump's rhetoric around immigration, and twice compared then-candidate Trump's proposals to deport Mexican and Central American immigrants to the Nazi period in Germany.
• Weld has also called for the federal government to issue more H1B work visas, calling it an economic imperative for the U.S. workforce to stay globally and economically competitive.

Amy Klobuchar: Increase legal immigration but don't abolish ICE

• Immigration: Path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants. More temporary work visas. Do not abolish ICE.
• Most undocumented immigrants would get a legal status and path to citizenship under plans Klobuchar has supported.
• She has also said she would increase legal immigration, with a focus on increasing the number of temporary work visas available.
• Klobuchar would reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but would not abolish the agency.

John Delaney: Ending DACA program was cruel, heartless and mean-spirited

• Immigration: Comprehensive immigration reform. Path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Increase border security.
• Delaney supports comprehensive immigration reform.
• As a congressman, he cosponsored the DREAM Act in 2017, which would have provided a path to citizenship for so-called "Dreamers," young undocumented immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.
• He called President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, "cruel, heartless and mean-spirited," and said deporting "Dreamers" would be both morally wrong and damaging to the economy.
• Delaney believes immigration reform should be modeled on the bipartisan 2013 Senate immigration bill, which would have given undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship and increased border security funding.

Cory Booker: Supports DACA and DREAMers

• Booker supports protections for so-called "Dreamers," undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as children and are shielded by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
• In late 2017, he and other Democrats refused to support an end-of-year spending bill that didn't include a legislative fix for DACA.
• Trump tried to end DACA last year by executive order, but the move drew legal challenges that remain stalled in the courts, which means the program remains in effect, for now.
• Booker attended Trump's first State of the Union address with a "dreamer."
• More recently, he sponsored a bill to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from giving personal information about DACA recipients to law enforcement.

Kamala Harris: Re-examine ICE & start from scratch

• Regarding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Harris believes it's time to "re-examine" the agency and "probably think about starting from scratch."
• She has not joined other Democrats--including 2020 rivals Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand--in explicitly calling for ICE to be abolished.
• Harris was a vocal opponent last year of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, which led to thousands of migrant children being separated from their families at the southwest border.
• Harris co-sponsored the "REUNITE Act," legislation that aimed to reunite families separated at the border.
• Also, Harris introduced a bill to improve oversight at immigration detention centers, and a bill to strengthen protections for unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody.
• Harris opposes Trump's border wall proposals, and has called on the White House to end the shutdown and agree to reopen the government.

Kirsten Gillibrand: Reimagine ICE; support DREAMers

• Immigration and border security: Eliminate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Reform immigration to include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
• Since entering the Senate, Gillibrand has supported comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, including so-called Dreamers who were brought to the country illegally as children.
• Gillibrand has also said she would eliminate and "reimagine" ICE. Last year, she proposed a bill that would require ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents to collect more data when they stop individuals and ask about their immigration status.
• Gillibrand's views on immigration represent a departure from her years in the House. Then, Gillibrand opposed what she called "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants, and opposed a plan allowing them to get drivers licenses in New York state.

Julian Castro: Secure the border by using technology, not a wall

• Immigration, ICE and the border: Allow a path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants. "Reconstitute" U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
• Castro supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the United States.
• Castro opposes Trump's border wall plan, and instead has proposed securing the border by using technology and a more efficient legal immigration process.
• When asked if he thinks ICE should be abolished, as some Democrats argued in the run-up to the 2018 midterms, Castro told Bustle he thinks the agency needs to change its culture and be "reconstituted."