In TDA’s U.S. election series, we will cut through the noise of the campaigns, and bring you Harris and Trump’s positions on the economy, abortion, and immigration.
In five days, more than 100 million people in the U.S. are expected to vote for the next President.
The White House race is between the current Vice President Kamala Harris (Democrat) and former President Donald Trump (Republican).
Ahead of next week’s vote, TDA is cutting through the noise and breaking down the biggest election issues.
Today, we’ll compare Harris and Trump’s positions on immigration.
Immigration
In the 1960s, the U.S. introduced limits on the number of people it allowed to permanently settle in America from overseas.
That cap slowly increased until the 1990s, when migration rates drew controversy because family members did not count towards the limit. It’s been an election issue ever since.
Today, around 14% of the U.S. population was born in another country. Nearly a quarter of this group was born in Mexico.
Definitions
In most situations, if you plan to move to the U.S. permanently, you will need a ‘green card’.
Anyone living in the U.S. who wasn’t born there and doesn’t hold a green card is classified as an “undocumented immigrant”. In 2023, 2.5 million people entered the U.S. via its Mexican border without visas, generally fleeing poverty and violence in Central and South America.
An estimated one million green cards are issued every year. More than half are allocated to immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
Voter issue
Polling by the U.S. Pew Research Center shows 61% of American voters believe immigration is a top issue going into the 2024 election.
Of those voters, a larger proportion of Republicans (82%) rate it as an issue of high concern compared to Democrats (39%).
Separate polling by Pew shows an overwhelming majority of all voters want to improve “security along the country’s borders” (88%).
Trump presidency
As President, Trump ordered a wall be built on the U.S-Mexico border to stop migrants, who he described as “bringing drugs” and “crime” into America. “Some, I assume, are good people,” he added.
The wall, which is effectively a large fence, covers a quarter of the border.
Trump also imposed a 90-day travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Amnesty International said the bans, which it called “a licence to discriminate,” threatened the lives of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing persecution.
Biden presidency
As President, Biden dropped most of Trump’s immigration policies, including stopping construction on the border wall.
Changes under Biden included stopping migrants from being deported without being given the chance to officially seek asylum, or see an immigration judge.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the number of migrant arrivals has increased over the past few years. However, migration also increased during Trump’s presidency.
Trump pledges
During recent campaigning, Trump has pledged to “seal the border and stop the migrant invasion”. He’s also promised mass deportations of what he calls “illegal aliens”.
Trump has repeatedly linked immigration to rising rates of crime. Stanford University research has found migrants are 30% less likely to end up in jail than U.S-born citizens.
At a campaign event last week, Trump said migrants were “poisoning the blood” of America. The Democrats compared these comments to language used by Adolf Hitler.
Harris pledges
Kamala Harris has promised to pass a bill to add 1,500 more security agents along the U.S-Mexico border.
She said the legislation would help intercept fentanyl — a powerful and addictive synthetic opioid. U.S. authorities have warned about a spike in arrivals of the drug.
Passing the legislation would need support in both houses of Congress. Currently, Republicans control the House of Representatives, while Democrats have a majority in the Senate.
