US Election Issue: Immigration
OVERVIEW: The US currently hosts the largest foreign-born population in the world, driven by economic, religious, and humanitarian factors. Per US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) data, the average legal immigration from 2000-2021 was just over 1M people per year. Though 2016-2020 saw the longest...
Facts
- OVERVIEW: The US currently hosts the largest foreign-born population in the world, driven by economic, religious, and humanitarian factors. Per US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) data, the average legal immigration from 2000-2021 was just over 1M people per year. Though 2016-2020 saw the longest continuous decrease since 1940-1944, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reports the largest ever two-year increase (5.1M) in the foreign-born population (both legal and unauthorized migrants) from 2022-2024, reaching a record-high total of 51.6M.[1][2][3][4]
- CURRENT STATE: Immigration has long been a source of political contention, with current debates centered around economic, security, and humanitarian concerns, as well as unauthorized immigration. DHS data shows 8.5M unauthorized migrants in 2000, 11.6M in 2010, 10.5M in 2020, and 11M in 2022. This excludes 5M children born in the US and thus given citizenship. The Congressional Budget Office projects that unauthorized immigrants will add $1.2T in federal revenue and reduce the deficit by $0.9T over the next decade, though CIS reports a 'lifetime net fiscal drain of $68,390' per unauthorized migrant.[5][6][7][4]
- IMMIGRATION AS AN ELECTION ISSUE: Per Gallup, 19% of Americans think immigration is the US' most important issue. Gallup also found that 55% of Americans want a reduction in immigration, 25% want levels to stay the same, and 16% want more. 88% of Republicans want an immigration reduction, compared to 50% of independents, and 28% of Democrats. While 47% of Gallup respondents support deporting all unauthorized migrants, Pew Research found a smaller 41%, though this is up from 31% in 2021.[8][9][10]
- DEMOCRATIC PLEDGES: The Democratic Party's 2024 platform describes the immigration system as 'broken.' Democrats pledge to 'push Congress' to pass immigration legislation — accusing Trump and the GOP of 'play[ing] politics' by rejecting a bipartisan deal with 'the toughest and fairest set of reforms.' The platform states it will expand legal immigration and create a 'pathway' for long-term unauthorized migrants while meeting continued resource requests by the DHS.[11]
- REPUBLICAN PLEDGES: The GOP's 2024 Platform includes several sections related to immigration. On the border, they say they'll finish constructing the border wall, 'shift massive portions' of Federal Law Enforcement to Immigration Enforcement, relocate 'thousands' of overseas soldiers to the border, and use the Navy to stop fentanyl smuggling. They also pledge to strengthen Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to conduct the 'largest deportation program in American history.'[12]
Sources: [1]Ohss (a), [2]Pew Research Center (a), [3]Cis (a), [4]BBC News, [5]Congressional Budget Office, [6]Cis (b), [7]Ohss (b), [8]Gallup.com (a), [9]Gallup.com (b), [10]Pew Research Center (b), [11]Democrats and [12]The American Presidency Project.
Narratives
- Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. Harris has demonstrated her approach to immigration as vice president to Biden over the last four years. First, the administration proposed giving citizenship to all 11M unauthorized migrants. Then, when that was shot down in Congress, the Democratic-led Senate offered a laughable compromise of providing citizenship to 'only' 6M of this population — the whole time keeping the border wide open for millions more to come in. Trump's 'America First' perspective is a sound and secure approach.
- Democratic narrative, as provided by New Yorker. As vice president, Harris has created forward-looking policies rather than unrealistic one-size-fits-all solutions. She's worked with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to fix the underlying issues causing migrants to flee their home countries. As millions of victimized people seek a better life in America, it's up to the next president to create a system that welcomes those in need while blocking wrongdoers. Harris will do that, while Trump will simply criminalize all immigrants based on xenophobia.
- Cynical narrative, as provided by Los Angeles Loyolan. Though both parties use immigration as a political prop to rouse their respective constituencies, unauthorized migration serves the interests of the US economic elite, as undocumented workers provide cheap labor in several crucial industries. Big business, which spends millions to influence US politics, consistently uses undocumented labor, as the migrants face all of the risks while companies reap the economic reward. The gridlock surrounding much-needed immigration reform only serves the interests of those who profit from undocumented labor — on both sides of the aisle.
