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Immigration is one of the thorniest public policy issues and will shape the 2024 elections.
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Biden has had to adjust some of its border policies after opposing Trump’s efforts in 2020.
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Meanwhile, Trump is trying to push heavily on immigration this year, similar to his 2016 campaign.
Few issues concern Americans more than immigration.
And under the presidencies of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, divisions over the issue have only deepened.
Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was defined by his tough stances on immigration: advocating for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and insisting that Mexico pay for the barrier, pushing for the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants, and calling for a temporary ban. about Muslims entering the country.
Once in power, Trump tried to implement his broad vision. His administration built 700 kilometers of fencing along the southern border, but much of the wall simply replaced anti-vehicle barriers with larger steel bars. And despite Trump’s rhetoric about ramping up deportations, the number of people removed from the US fell between October 2018 and September 2019.
Biden strongly denounced Trump’s immigration policies in the 2020 election, expressed opposition to a border wall, denounced the Republican administration’s family separation policy and promised a more humane approach to migrants at the southern border.
But since Biden took office, an explosion of concern over the border — along with dozens of migrants arriving in Democratic-run cities like Chicago and New York — has become a political burden, with voters giving him low marks on the issue .
Here’s a look at Biden and Trump’s positions on immigration, one of the defining issues of the November election:
Where Joe Biden stands on immigration
Immigration has been one of the trickiest policy areas for Biden, as he came to power looking to roll back many Trump-era policies but instead often found himself on the defensive on the issue.
Republicans across the country have routinely lambasted Biden over border security since he took office, pointing fingers at him for the record number of apprehensions at the border. In February, the Republican Party-controlled House of Representatives impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, arguing that he had failed to enforce the country’s immigration laws. (The Democratic-led Senate subsequently dismissed the impeachment charges against Mayorkas.)
Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has spent the past two years pushing back against what he says is Biden’s lack of border security by sending hundreds of thousands of migrants to Chicago and New York. And it has created a difficult situation for Democratic officials like New York Mayor Eric Adams, who has had to tackle budget problems surrounding migrant housing.
Biden pushed for passage of a Senate-drafted bipartisan bill this year that would have overhauled the U.S. asylum system, among other measures aimed at bolstering security at the border. The bill seemingly put the president on the offensive on the issue as he challenged Republicans in Congress to backtrack on the proposal to get a handle on immigration.
But Senate Republicans overwhelmingly voted against the bill after Trump pressured them to undermine it.
Biden signed an executive order last week that limits asylum protections — to the frustration of immigration advocates — for migrants if there are an average of more than 2,500 unauthorized border crossings over a seven-day period.
Where Donald Trump stands on immigration
Trump has staked much of his 2024 campaign on Biden’s immigration vulnerabilities among voters.
A New York Times/Siena College poll in April found that 50% of registered voters approved of Trump’s approach while in office. Meanwhile, only 32% of registered voters approved of Biden’s approach to immigration.
The former president was instrumental in undermining this year’s bipartisan immigration bill, portraying it as a “terrible open-borders betrayal” at a January rally in Las Vegas.
Trump has made clear that he plans to crack down on illegal immigration if he retakes the White House.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the former president’s conservative allies have already begun drafting executive orders and memos in preparation for possible early actions to limit migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
During Trump’s only term in the White House, he also made it harder for foreign-born workers — including many highly skilled scientists and engineers — to come to the U.S. on visas. A second Trump administration could well see a return to such policies.
Read the original article on Business Insider
