Survey of 2020 Presidential campaign websites: on Immigration
Gloria La Riva:
Abolish all anti-immigrant laws, shut down ICE
Abolish all anti-immigrant laws. Stop the raids and deportations and demonization of immigrants. Shut down ICE and the concentration camps and reunite families.
The government's war on immigrants must end. The border wall must be dismantled. Amnesty and citizenship for those without documents. Full rights for all!
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website LaRiva2020.org
Aug 15, 2020
Jo Jorgensen:
Repeal arbitrary quotas on people legally entering US
The freedom to trade and travel are fundamental to human liberty. As American citizens, we should be free to travel anywhere we choose, and to buy and sell anywhere in the world.
As President, I will use my Constitutional authority to eliminate trade barriers & tariffs, and work to repeal arbitrary quotas on the number of people who can legally enter the United States to work, visit, or reside.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website jo20.com
Jul 26, 2020
Rocky De La Fuente:
Treat undocumented workers as assets rather than liabilities
We need comprehensive immigration reform that views undocumented workers as assets rather than liabilities. It is not logical to suggest that we can deport 13 million immigrants in a way that would be deemed fair.
We can secure our borders without abandoning the values upon which our nation was built. We need to de-politicize the issue and work toward effective and comprehensive immigration reform.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website rocky101.com
Mar 4, 2020
Mike Bloomberg:
Create an earned pathway to citizenship for undocumented
Mike's plan will create an earned pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented. Mike will reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, implementing sensible immigration enforcement priorities that promote
public safety and national security. Mike will also end construction of Trump's ineffective wall, invest in smart security measures and upgrade our ports of entry to protect the border and increase efficiency.
Mike will rescind President Trump's disgraceful travel ban, end family separations at the border, establish rigorous safeguards for children, and promote alternatives to detention for individuals and families who pose no threat to public safety.
Mike will set the annual refugee resettlement target at 125,000 and also restore fairness and timeliness to the asylum process. And he will honor and protect immigrant service members, veterans and their families.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeBloomberg.com
Jan 20, 2020
Tom Steyer:
Failing to offer a path to citizenship is inherently unjust
For centuries, immigrants have come to America in search of a better life--and made vital contributions to our economy, our culture, and our society. But across the country, immigrants' are under attack and families live in fear of being torn apart.
A system that depends upon the labor of immigrants, but fails to offer a path to citizenship, is inherently unjust. This broken system hurts us all.We stand for a nation that welcomes immigrants and respects their rights.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website, NextGenAmerica.org
Jul 4, 2019
Joe Sestak:
Create a path to naturalization for undocumented immigrants
Priorities:- Pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
- Secure our borders with smart technology such as drones and sensors, and sections of fencing where needed and appropriate.
- Increase guest worker visas and oversight of guest
worker programs.
- Increase numbers of skilled immigrants, especially in STEM fields.
- Create a path to naturalization for undocumented immigrants willing to pay back taxes, pass criminal background checks, prove gainful employment, and pass a
basic English language test.
- End the shameful practice of separating children from their parents or guardians.
- Restore dignity to immigrants and asylum-seekers in detention.
- Grant all immigrants and asylum-seekers the right to an attorney
- Assure timely due process for all immigrants and asylum-seekers.
- Work with the international community and explore innovative solutions to address the root causes of migration, including climate change, violence, corruption, and poverty..
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website JoeSestak.com
Jun 23, 2019
Joe Sestak:
Broken system can only be fixed by comprehensive reform
Our immigrant heritage is a rich seam in our country's history and adds much promise to our collective future. So many immigrants arrived in this country with nothing, and yet, through hard work and perseverance, saw their children become doctors,
artists, welders, teachers, engineers--and even three-star admirals. No one doubts that our current immigration system is broken. But it will not be fixed by breaking it even further. It can only be fixed through comprehensive reform.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website JoeSestak.com
Jun 23, 2019
Howie Hawkins:
Demand open borders where movement between nations is free
The inhumanity of US immigration policy came to broad public attention in 2018 with the news coverage of forced separations of young children from their families on the southern US border. These crimes against humanity only underscored the long-standing
brutality of US immigration policy, which has treated people from Mexico and Central America in particular as cheap labor to be imported or deported based on US labor demand, like apartheid South Africa once used Bantustans.
We will demand open borders where movement between nations is free, like it is in the European Union. International borders should be authentic fair-trade zones where people are free to travel across borders for work, shopping, or recreation.
People crossing international borders would be required to present their identification at a border crossing. Only people wanted for criminal charges or terrorist organization affiliation would be detained.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowieHawkins.us
May 19, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
End cooperation & presence of ICE in NYC
Decreased Cooperation with ICE: Mayor de Blasio signed into law a bill to end the presence of ICE at all City facilities, including Rikers Island, and dramatically reduced the
City's cooperation with federal ICE detainers for low-level offenses. Now, the City will only cooperate in cases involving serious, and violent, crimes.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website BillDeBlasio.com
May 2, 2019
Bill de Blasio:
Protect DACA immigrants, no matter what
Protecting DACA: Mayor de Blasio vowed to pushed back against President Trump's decision on DACA. With over 30,000 New Yorkers affected by this policy, the Mayor assured them that their city stands with them: no matter what.
The Mayor committed to fighting against the President and his policy, and continuing to put New Yorkers first and protecting them in any way possible.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website BillDeBlasio.com
May 2, 2019
Mike Gravel:
Open borders except for criminals escaping the law
The Trump administration's monstrous approach to immigration policy is a humanitarian and moral catastrophe, one that must be mended immediately. But American immigration policy has been cruel for a long, long time, and we have to do more than simply
repeal what Trump has done.The United States should: - Institute a policy of open borders, with absolute freedom of movement into and out of the United States (with exceptions for criminals attempting to escape the law).
-
Observe its international commitments with respect to migrants and refugees (as set out in the 2016 New York Declaration).
- Abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement.
-
Offer immediate legal status to all undocumented immigrants who have resided in the country for more than three years on a three-year pathway to citizenship.
- Pass a law against deporting any veteran of the U.S. military.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeGravel.com
Apr 9, 2019
Wayne Messam:
Reform system top to bottom to be safer & more inclusive
We need to reform our immigration system from top to bottom and make sure our country is not only safer, but also more inclusive of, immigrants. The first thing we need to do is provide a pathway to citizenship for American Dreamers. This is a long
overdue action for people who, through no fault of their own, find their path to the American Dream blocked. Then, we should offer comprehensive immigration reform that re-establishes a fair and orderly process to achieve the American dream.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website WayneForUSA.com
Apr 9, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
No one calls for open borders; stop scapegoating
Immigrants are not our enemies. I don't know any progressive who is arguing for open borders, but we are arguing for open hearts. This is so important to remember today as immigrants are often viciously scapegoated. Scapegoating immigrants, particularly
Mexicans and Central Americans, is a deliberate dehumanization technique. Dehumanizing others has always been the required first step leading toward history's collective atrocities. We must stand up against it now as other generations stood up.
The deliberate attempt by some of our leaders to make Americans fear something so basic to our greatness in the name of our greatness will one day be seen as a dark, aberrational chapter in our nation's history.
Those who scapegoat immigrants, like all demagogues throughout history, are demonizing others to increase their own power. The hardening of the American heart is far more dangerous than the softening of our borders.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Marianne2020.com
Apr 8, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Full path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants
I support legislative reforms that includes a full path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who do not have serious criminal background issues. I would also work to reduce the cost of naturalization and increase resources to help people navigate
that process more easily.Children brought into the United States by their parents should not be punished for now being here. I fully support our DACA. Our dreamers represent the best about our future.
My administration would reduce the record
number of detainees currently under extended DHS and ICE control. I would work to close private detention centers and family detention centers. There are far more humane options that have been proven to work.
I would speed up our process of allowing
asylum seekers to come here. I would work to fund and authorize vast increases in Immigration Judges to move through our backlog of asylum seekers and other related cases.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Marianne2020.com
Apr 8, 2019
Andrew Yang:
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.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
Mar 29, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Deporting 11 million is impossible and inhumane
We have to face facts that there are over 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. Millions of them pay taxes and have American children. Deporting them is impossible and inhumane. Having them continue to live in the shadows brings with it
many problems and drawbacks. The best path forward is to provide a pathway to citizenship for those who are here illegally. We need to bring them into the formal economy out of the shadows.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
Mar 29, 2019
Howard Schultz:
Immigrants exemplify the American dream
America's free-enterprise system has provided more opportunity and created more prosperity than any other economic model in the history of the world. It has encouraged and unleashed the creativity of the individual.
And it has birthed and scaled inventions that have enhanced and empowered humanity all over the world. Here in Miami, you understand that. This city, and all of south Florida, is the home of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have fled
socialist revolutions that have destroyed free-enterprise systems and the rule of law. These immigrants, these extraordinary, wonderful people--from Cuba, from Venezuela, from Nicaragua, and other parts of Latin America--have embraced the
American way and found success while making tremendous contributions to their communities and our country.
In my view, and I think of the views of so many, this truly exemplifies the American dream.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowardSchultz.com
Mar 13, 2019
Julian Castro:
We can have compassion AND border security
Just two generations after my grandmother came across this border, one of her grandsons, my brother Joaquin, is a member of Congress, and I'm running for President. Our nation has always been a country of immigrants, folks who have made a profound and
positive difference to our nation's progress. We can have a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Don't believe Trump's lies--we don't have to choose between border security and being compassionate. We can have both.
Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website JulianForTheFuture.com
Feb 11, 2019
Howard Schultz:
Great-grandparents immigrated from Easter Europe in 1890s
Let me share with you my own personal story. My great grandfather Max arrived in the United States from Eastern Europe in 1892 with $10 in his pocket. He did not speak a word of English and made his living as a tailor. My other great grandfather
Morris was of Russian descent and came to America in the early 1890s. I was raised in a poor, working class family in Brooklyn, NY. We lived in public housing, better known in Canarsie as the "projects."
My father, a World War II veteran, did not finish high school, and spent his adult life as a laborer who had a series of unfortunate jobs, odd jobs that unfortunately didn't pay very well.The only thing I ever inherited was my mother's dream and
belief in the American Dream. Because of her, I became the first person in my family to go to and to graduate from college. I got my first job selling office equipment door-to-door, and always gave half of my paychecks to my parents.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowardSchultz.com
Feb 7, 2019
Howard Schultz:
False choice between mass deportation and abolishing ICE
What are the consequences of a hyper-partisan Washington? Let's start with immigration, which today is being used as a political weapon, instead of being addressed as a national security priority. On the far Left, there are calls to abolish ICE.
On the far Right, there are calls for mass deportation, and a policy of separating parents from children. These are both false choices. We can have strong borders, to protect us from terrorists and those who wish to do us harm, but we also can treat all
people with a deep sense humanity and dignity. We must enact the common-sense immigration reform that a majority of Americans already say they want: investments in border security, a path of legalization for unauthorized immigrants, citizenship for the
DREAMers, and a modernized immigration system that attracts and retains the best and the brightest people from all over the world, who will contribute positively to our economy and culture.
Source: Purdue Univ. speech on 2020 Presidential Campaign website
Feb 7, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021