“Illegal immigration and broken visa programs take jobs directly from Hispanic workers living here lawfully today. Illegal immigration also brings with it massive crime and massive drugs.”
Donald Trumps Presidential Immigration Platform
That’s what Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said recently at a rally in Pueblo, CO. These early October comments echo an argument Trump has been making for months on the campaign trail about the havoc he believes undocumented immigrants are wreaking upon this country, and underscore his push for a wall on the southern border and for mass deportations.
Building a Wall
Trump’s assertion that he will build a wall — and make Mexico pay for it — is one of the candidate’s most widely known policy pronouncements. It is also one Trump stands by, even after meeting Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto, who tweeted that his country will do no such thing.
Still, Trump asserted on August 31, 2016 in Arizona, “We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall. One hundred percent. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for it.”
According to the Trump camp, the wall will cost between $5 and $10 billion, and will be “impenetrable.”
Deportations
Trump vowed in 2015 to deport the nation’s approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants, a job that would be carried out using a “deportation force.” However, at a televised vice presidential debate, running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence recently dismissed the idea as “nonsense.”
Pence added this of Trump’s deportation policy: ““Donald Trump has laid out a priority to remove criminal aliens, and people who have overstayed their visas, and once we have accomplished all of that, which will strengthen our economy, strengthen the rule of law in our country, and make our communities safer once the criminal aliens are out, then we will deal with those that remain.”
Indeed, the candidate’s website promises to “move criminal aliens out day one,” ending a policy of “catch and release,” and to abolish executive actions President Obama has taken, such as those that grant amnesty to children of undocumented immigrants. Trump also has proposed tripling the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
As for whether Trump will provide any pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, the candidate has said, “Our message to the world will be this. You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country. Can’t do it.” His official immigration platform also states simply, “Anyone who enters the U.S. illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country.”
Sanctuary Cities
Trump has pledged to eliminate sanctuary cities, or cities that have sheltered illegal immigrants from deportation.
“We will end the sanctuary cities that have resulted in so many needless deaths,” Trump has promised, saying, “Cities that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities will not receive taxpayer dollars.”
Trump also has said that, on his first day in office, he will ask Congress to pass “Kate’s Law,” legislation named in memory of a 32-year-old San Francisco woman who was reportedly killed by an undocumented immigrant who had been deported five times. The law would, according to Trump, “ensure that criminal aliens convicted of illegal reentry face receive strong mandatory minimum sentences.”
“Extreme vetting”
Amid concerns that terrorists may try to enter the country as would-be immigrants, particularly among inflows of refugees from Syria, Trump has designed a set of measures to keep violent extremists out of the U.S. These steps, known as “extreme vetting,” include a plan to “temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.” (This follows on the candidate’s earlier declaration he would ban all Muslims from entering the U.S., a position he has since softened.) In addition, he has called for expanding security checks that the federal government administers and for new, stricter tests for immigrants that comport with American “values.”
Immigration Commission
As it concerns the legal immigration system, Trump has proposed creating an Immigration Commission that will select new entries to the countries based upon merit, skill, and proficiency. The candidate hopes to “keep immigration levels, measured by population share, within historical norms,” and to welcome to our shores immigrants who are likely to be successful in the U.S. while making sure job openings are filled first by Americans already in the country.
For assistance with immigration requests…
To learn more about U.S. visas and the immigration process, and to take advantage of our array of immigration services, please contact KPPB Law at (703) 594-4040.
Beeraj Patel, Esq.
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