Immigration is a central issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential race, with a record 28% of Americans citing it as the nation’s top concern in early 2024, according to Gallup — the highest level recorded since the polling firm began tracking public opinion in 1939.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each present distinct approaches to U.S. immigration policy. To help voters understand each candidate’s position, Boundless analyzed publicly available statements, campaign materials, policy proposals, and voting records to create a data-driven overview of both candidates’ positions on key immigration topics, including border security, DACA, asylum policies, and more.
General Philosophy on Immigration
Kamala Harris
Harris’s approach to immigration has shifted over time. Previously, Harris supported more progressive immigration policies, such as decriminalizing border crossings. However, her current position emphasizes a balanced approach that includes stricter enforcement of immigration laws while aiming to preserve humanitarian protections.
Key elements of her current position:
- Bipartisan Reform: Supports comprehensive immigration reform through bipartisan efforts.
- Pathways to Citizenship: Advocates for earned pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet specific criteria.
- Addressing Migration Causes: Focuses on reducing migration through economic and social development initiatives in Central America.
- Expanding Visa Options: Proposes increasing family- and employment-based visas to support workforce growth and economic needs.
Donald Trump
Trump maintains a restrictive stance on immigration, emphasizing strict enforcement and reduced pathways for legal immigration.
Key elements of his current position:
- Deportations and Border Control: Advocates for mass deportations and strengthening border security.
- U.S.-Mexico Border Wall: Proposes expanding the wall construction along the southern border.
- Reducing Legal Immigration: Supports limiting legal immigration, with restrictions on family-based and skilled worker visas.
- Birthright Citizenship: Seeks to revoke birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants.
- Dehumanizing Rhetoric: Has used dehumanizing language to describe migrants entering the country at the Southern border, referring to them as “animals” and claiming they are “poisoning the blood” of the country, as stated in a recent interview with The National Pulse, a right-leaning news site.
Legal Immigration
Kamala Harris
Harris supports expanding legal immigration channels, particularly for skilled workers and their families, arguing this approach addresses workforce shortages and economic growth.
Key elements of her current position:
- Expanding Working Opportunities: Supports measures that expand opportunities for immigrants to contribute to the U.S. workforce such as increasing employment-based green card availability by 13% through 2030.
- Maintaining Legal Protections: Advocates for a bipartisan proposal to maintain green card eligibility for children of H-1B visa holders.
Donald Trump:
Trump’s policies focus on reducing immigration across the board, proposing limitations on both family-based immigration and skilled worker visas.
Key elements of his current position:
- Family-Based Restrictions: Supports limiting family-based immigration only to spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.
- Employment-Based Restrictions: Proposes stricter H-1B visa requirements and “ideological screenings” for visa applicants, barring those with certain political ideologies or ties to terrorism.
Border Security
Kamala Harris
In recent years, Harris has adopted a nuanced approach, balancing border security measures with efforts to address the root causes of migration through the U.S.-Mexico border.
Key elements of her current position:
- Bipartisan Border Security Proposal: Backs a bipartisan proposal to hire more border agents, invest in drug detection technology, and temporarily close the U.S.-Mexico border when average crossing thresholds are met.
- Partnership for Central America: Works to address the underlying causes of migration from Central America, such as poverty and violence, through the Partnership for Central America, which has contributed to a 10% percent drop in border encounters from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras since 2022.
Donald Trump
Trump’s approach to border security is rooted in physical infrastructure and strict enforcement. Since 2016, he’s become well-known for his calls to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Although fewer than 500 miles of the wall were constructed during his presidency — which he funded by diverting military funds to the project without Congress’s permission — Trump has vowed to continue this initiative as well as expand the border patrol force.
Key elements of his current position:
- Wall Construction: Pledges to resume the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
- Border Agents: Plans to hire 10,000 new border agents, increasing the force by over 50%.
- Military Deployment: Proposes deploying the military to the border to enforce immigration laws.
- Family Separations: Remains open to reinstating family separations for migrants who cross the southern U.S. border illegally.
Asylum
Kamala Harris
Harris supports a balanced approach to asylum, supporting restrictions while preserving humanitarian protections and advocating for reforms to make the process easier to navigate.
Key elements of her current position:
- Asylum Policy Reform: Supports policies limiting asylum applications during surges and from those who cross the border illegally.
- Legal Protections for Minors and Families: Emphasizes ensuring legal protections, including the right to counsel, for vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied minors and families fleeing violence.
Donald Trump
Trump’s advocates for a restrictive, zero-tolerance approach to asylum aimed at minimizing entries. His proposed policies would nearly eliminate access to asylum, making them some of the most restrictive in U.S. history.
Key elements of his current position:
- “Remain in Mexico” Policy: Proposes reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico during processing, sometimes under dangerous and unsanitary conditions.
- Title 42 Reintroduction: Plans to revive Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants without asylum hearings.
- Asylum Suspension: Supports suspending asylum for individuals who cross the border illegally.
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
Kamala Harris
Harris has been a strong proponent of DACA, the Obama-era program that protects individuals brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, often referred to as “Dreamers.” Her stance reflects continuity with the Obama-Biden approach to DACA, focusing on protections and permanent solutions for Dreamers and their families.
Key elements of her current position:
- Expanding Protections: Urges Congress to pass permanent legislation protecting Dreamers in the face of ongoing challenges to DACA in the courts.
- Expanding Access to Citizenship: Endorses a path to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria, including those who arrived as children and those whose children are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
- Extending Protections for Other Groups: Supports extending similar DACA-like protections to other vulnerable groups, including undocumented immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens or legal residents.
Donald Trump
Trump opposes DACA and favors policies that limit pathways to legal status for undocumented immigrants. His administration attempted to end DACA during his presidency, though it faced legal challenges.
Key elements of his current position:
- Ending DACA Protections: Opposes legislation that would protect Dreamers from deportation.
- Limiting Pathways to Citizenship: Seeks to limit opportunities for undocumented immigrants, including Dreamers, to obtain legal status.
Mass Deportations
Kamala Harris
Harris opposes mass deportations, advocating instead for a regulated approach that prioritizes humane law enforcement and long-term solutions.
Key elements of her current position:
- Opposes Large-Scale Deportations: Does not support mass deportations and the use of military force for immigration enforcement.
- Due Process Protections: Emphasizes the importance of enforcing current laws while ensuring due process for individuals involved in immigration violations.
- Expanding Access to Citizenship: Advocates for creating earned pathways to citizenship, rather than focusing on mass deportations.
Donald Trump
Trump has proposed the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, representing a significant escalation of his immigration policies from his first term.
Key elements of his current position:
- Large-Scale Deportations: Proposes to deport 15-20 million undocumented immigrants through mass raids.
- Military Involvement: Plans to involve local police, the National Guard, and active-duty military in deportations.
- Detention Camps: Supports establishing detention camps to hold undocumented immigrants while they await deportation.
- Alien Enemies Act of 1798: Suggests utilizing the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport individuals without due process, a law that was last invoked during World War II to place Japanese Americans in internment camps.
Travel Bans
Kamala Harris
Harris opposes travel bans based on religion or nationality, calling them “un-American.” She did not support the travel bans that Trump enacted in 2017, which targeted several majority-Muslim countries, including Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia.
Key elements of her current position:
- Support for Travel Ban Repeal: Supported Biden’s decision to revoke Trump’s travel bans on his first day in office.
Donald Trump
Trump enacted travel bans throughout his presidency, barring people from several majority-Muslim countries, including Iran, Libya, and Iraq, from entering the U.S. His administration claimed that the intent of the bans was to keep the U.S. safe from foreign threats, but human rights organizations described the bans as a “euphemism for discriminating against Muslims,” according to the New York Times.
Trump has said that he would reinstate and possibly expand these bans if re-elected.
Key elements of his current position:
- Expansion of Travel Bans: Proposes reinstating and potentially expanding the list of banned countries as part of his immigration policies.
Bottom Line
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump offer two distinct visions for the future of immigration in the U.S. Harris balances security with humanitarian protections, emphasizing enhancing border security through bipartisan solutions, expanding legal immigration, and attempting to address the root causes of migration. Trump prioritizes a hardline approach, focusing on minimizing both legal and undocumented immigration through mass deportations, a border wall, and restricted asylum access.
By examining these records and policy goals, voters can gain a clearer picture of how each candidate’s policies could shape the U.S. immigration landscape.