Third 2020 Presidential Debate: on Immigration


Donald Trump: Working very hard to reunite 500+ kids with their parents

Q: Your administration separated children from their parents at the border, at least 4,000 kids. You've reversed your policy, but the US can't locate the parents of more than 500 children. So how will these families ever be reunited?

TRUMP: Children are brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels. We now have as strong a border as we've ever had. And we let people in, but they have to come in legally.

Q: But how will you reunite these kids with their families, Mr. President?

TRUMP: They used to say I built the cages, and then it was determined they were built in 2014. That was [Biden]. They built cages.

Q: Do you have a plan to reunite the kids with their families?

TRUMP: Yes. We're working on it. We're trying very hard. But a lot of these kids come out without the parents. They are so well taken care of. They're in facilities that were so clean.

Q: But some of them haven't been reunited with their families.

TRUMP: But just ask one question. Who built the cages?

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker Oct 22, 2020

Donald Trump: Catch-&-release was a disaster; only low-IQ people came back

Catch and release is a disaster. A murderer would come in. A rapist would come in. We would take their name. We have to release them into our country. And then you say they come back. Less than 1% of the people come back. We have to send ICE out and Border Patrol out to find them. We would say, "Come back in two years, three years. We're going to give you a court case. They never come back. Those with the lowest IQ, they might come back, but there are very, very few.
Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker Oct 22, 2020

Joe Biden: Separating kids from parents in border cages is criminal

Q: The US can't locate the parents of more than 500 children separated at the border. Do you have a plan to reunite the kids with their families?

TRUMP: We're working on it. But a lot of these kids come out without the parents. Children are brought here by coyotes. They are so well taken care of. They're in facilities that were so clean.

Q: But some of them haven't been reunited with their families.

TRUMP: But just ask one question. Who built the cages?

BIDEN: These 500-plus kids came with parents. They separated them at the border to make it a disincentive to come to begin with. Coyotes didn't bring them over. Their parents were with them. They got separated from their parents. And it makes us a laughingstock and violates every notion of who we are as a nation.

TRUMP: We changed the policy. Who built the cages, Joe?

BIDEN: Their kids were ripped from their arms and separated, and now they cannot find over 500 of the sets of those parents, and those kids are alone. It's criminal.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker Oct 22, 2020

Joe Biden: I'll send bill in first 100 days for pathway to citizenship

Q: The Obama Administration did fail to deliver immigration reform, which had been a key promise. It also presided over record deportations, as well as family detentions at the border before changing course. So why should voters trust you with an immigration overhaul now?

BIDEN: Because we made a mistake. It took too long to get it right. I'll be President, not Vice President. And the fact is I've made it very clear. Within a 100 days, I'm going to send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people. And all of those so-called DREAMers, those DACA kids, they're going to be immediately certified again to be able to stay in this country and put on a path to citizenship.

TRUMP: He had 8 years to do what he said he was going to do. And I've changed. Without having a specific, we got rid of catch and release. We got rid of a lot of horrible things that they put in and that they lived with. But he had eight years he was Vice President.

Source: Third 2020 Presidential Debate, moderated by Kristen Welker Oct 22, 2020

  • The above quotations are from Third presidential debate
    at Belmont University, October 22, 2020
    hosted by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Immigration.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Donald Trump on Immigration.
  • Click here for more quotes by Joe Biden on Immigration.
2020 Presidential contenders on Immigration:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)
Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Oct 24, 2020