What are candidates saying about the issues surrounding immigration and citizenship? Find out here!
The DREAM Act/DACA: Hillary Clinton believes passage of the DREAM Act is long overdue. In 2014 she stated, “As a Senator I was proud to cosponsor the national DREAM Act and to vote for it. I’m a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform and I believe that we have to fix our broken immigration system.” She has promised to defend President Obama's actions on immigration. Bernie Sanders is also a strong supporter of the DREAM Act and cosponsored its reintroduction in 2011. He has called it a way to recognize "American kids who deserve the right to legally be in the country they know as home." He has promised to use executive powers to support DREAMers if elected. Donald Trump opposes the DREAM Act and has said he will rescind President Obama's executive orders if elected. Jeb Bush supports the DREAM Act but not via executive action. He has said he would undo DACA, but wants to pass legislation to protect DREAMers. Ben Carson has equated President Obama's executive actions with treason. He has not commented on what his proposed Guest-Worker Program will do to DREAMers. Marco Rubio has also called for an end to DACA and considers the DREAM Act too broad. Chris Christie initially opposed New Jersey's state DREAM Act, but changed his position and signed it into law calling DREAMers "an inspiration to us because in you we see all that the future of our country can be." Carly Fiorina supports the DREAM Act and has declared that it's unfair to "punish children who through no fault of their own are here trying to live the American dream." The Border: Hillary Clinton has called for us to "deploy more technology and personnel" instead of a physical fence along our border with Mexico. Bernie Sanders has criticized open borders and repeatedly voted against building a fence. He supports increased border patrol operations. Donald Trump wants a triple-layered fence and Predator drones on the Mexican border. He believes Mexico should pay for this wall. According to him, a wall is necessary because "a nation without borders is not a nation." Jeb Bush has explained that his wife is Mexican and she wants a wall on the Mexican border; however, he believes Trump's plan is unrealistic. Ben Carson claimed in August that "56 percent of (the U.S.-Mexico) border is not under our control." He thinks drones could be used for security surveillance along the border and to take out caves used by smugglers and cartels. Marco Rubio says that the border should be controlled with a wall and an entry/exit tracking system. Chris Christie has criticized Trump's plan to have Mexico pay for a wall, instead advocating for some fences, more border patrol agents, and drones. Rand Paul wants immigration reform in Congress to be conditional on border security and thinks a fence should be completed in five years. Ted Cruz wants to strengthen border security and is concerned about having adequate manpower along the border, in spite of the current number of border patrol agents being at one of the highest points in history. Deportation: Hillary Clinton believes deporting all undocumented immigrants is unrealistic and has stated that she won't break up families. She has criticized President Obama's previous deportation strategy for being too aggressive. Bernie Sanders has called for a broader end to deportations, believing that both children brought to the US at a young age and their parents should be protected. Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that undocumented immigrants "have to go." As President, he would deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants and their US citizen children within 18 months to 2 years. Jeb Bush says that mass deportation "isn't feasible, isn't practical." He wants a path to legal status. Ben Carson has called for a guest worker program instead of deportation, and believes mass deportation would be expensive, impartial, and crippling to the hotel and agricultural industries. Marco Rubio, whose grandfather was deported, favors paths to citizenship and opposes amnesty to undocumented immigrants, but hasn't specifically addressed deportation. Chris Christie sees mass deportation as impractical. Rand Paul believes the 11 million undocumented immigrants are "here to stay" and wouldn't deport them. Ted Cruz has evaded the issue of mass deportation, saying that the border has to be secured first before we have a conversation about deportation. Refugees: Hillary Clinton strongly believes the US and all other countries should take in Syrian refugees, terming it a "global crisis" and calling for the US to accept 65,000 refugees instead of the 10,000 Obama proposed. She, however, believed child migrants coming from Central America in 2014, many of whom qualified for humanitarian relief, should have been deported to discourage their families from sending them on the dangerous journey. Bernie Sanders said it's "impossible" to know how many Syrian refugees the US should accept. His stance on this issue has been described as vague. Donald Trump, although initially calling for the US to accept more Syrian refugees, has since stated that he'll send back Syrian refugees taken in by the US if elected. "They could be ISIS, I don't know," he said. Jeb Bush has criticized Trump's plans and commented, "We have a global tradition of taking care of refugees...we've done it since the beginning of time." Ben Carson has recommended US financial aid to Syrian refugees settling in the Middle East, but does not want to open America's doors. He stated that refugees from war-torn Syria are "infiltrated with jihadists." Marco Rubio is open but cautious toward allowing refugees into the US, and has stressed the importance of making sure they are not members of a terrorist organization. Chris Christie originally supported opening the US to Syrian refugees, but changed course recently, claiming "It's a real danger to take in any of these folks." Rand Paul has skirted the issue of the US getting involved with taking in current refugees, and stated, “We should have a warm and welcoming heart, but we also just can’t accept the whole world to come here.” He too warned that in past refugee crises, the US has let in people who wished to harm us. Ted Cruz thinks the ultimate goal of the current crisis is to return the refugees to their homes eventually, so moving them to far-off countries like the US doesn't make sense. He also believes, like other Republicans, that many Muslim refugees are terrorists capitalizing on the crisis, and therefore the US should only accept Christian refugees. Paths to Citizenship: Hillary Clinton wants to introduce a "path to full and equal citizenship" for undocumented immigrants. This path would be included in a full-scale immigration reform that she would implement through executive action if necessary. "We cannot settle for proposals that provide hard-working people with merely a second-class status," her campaign has stated. Bernie Sanders also calls for paths to full citizenship. Like Clinton, he supports waiving deportation for DREAMers and their parents. "It is time to bring our neighbors out of the shadows. It is time to give them legal status. It is time to create a reasonable path to citizenship," he declared. Donald Trump wants to restrict new immigration and get rid of birthright citizenship, and he is firmly opposed to any sort of path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Among his comments on these issues: "Citizenship for illegal immigrants is a GOP suicide mission” and "We’re the only country dumb enough for birthright citizenship." Jeb Bush currently support paths to citizenship, but has flip-flopped on the issue a number of times in the past. Ben Carson previously implied that he supported paths to citizenship by saying that without them, using cheap labor is a moral low road. As a candidate, however, he has avoided the issue. Marco Rubio would grant visas to those going to college or joining the military and would give legal status, but not citizenship, to the children of undocumented immigrants. He does not support amnesty. Chris Christie has previously expressed support for a path to citizenship, but has since sidestepped the issue. Rand Paul also doesn't support amnesty but does think the 11 million undocumented immigrants should eventually be given work visas and pay taxes. He has challenged birthright citizenship, saying it hasn't been fully adjudicated by the Supreme Court. Ted Cruz has never supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. National Language: Hillary Clinton says there should be a common language to unite the people, but English is not the official language of the US. Bernie Sanders is against making English the official language of the US, saying that "English-Only" laws hurt legal immigrants. Donald Trump has stated, "This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish." Jeb Bush speaks Spanish at home and on the campaign trail, saying "When students ask questions in Spanish, I answer in Spanish." Marco Rubio believes English should be the official language of the United States, and wanted to bolster English requirements for permanent residency in the US. Rand Paul has been commended by "US English" for his support of English as the official language of the US. Sources: ontheissues.org http://www.cbsnews.com/news/where-the-2016-candidates-stand-on-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/ http://www.cfr.org/elections/presidential-candidates-their-own-words/p36633 http://ballotpedia.org/2016_presidential_candidates_on_immigration http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/christie_says_trumps_border_wall_plan_makes_no_sense.html http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-immigration/#border-security https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform http://time.com/3928948/bernie-sanders-immigration/ http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/donald-trump-undocumented-immigrants-have-go-n410501 http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/18/jeb-bush-in-atlanta-deporting-illegal-immigrants-isnt-feasible-isnt-practical/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2015/04/20/chris-christie-stance-on-immigration/26103865/ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/14/bernie-sanders-under-pressure-to-define-stance-on-us-response-to-refugee-crisis http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-syrian-refugees_560cdf1be4b076812700d2d9) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-nh-jeb-bush-talks-syrian-refugees-polls-trump/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/05/05/clinton-urges-full-and-equal-path-to-citizenship-for-undocumented-immigrants/ http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/politics/bernie-sanders-immigration/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/mar/08/debbie-wasserman-schultz/jeb-bush-flip-flop-immigration-pathway-citizenship/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/may/07/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-not-one-gop-presidential-cont/ http://americasvoice.org/blog/trump-wants-to-deport-daca-recipients-like-ricardo-do-other-gop-candidates-agree/ |
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