Ahead of the first debate for 2020 Democrat presidential primary contenders, the leading Democrats among the pack of 24 candidates all effectively share the same views on immigration as they demand amnesty for all illegal aliens and more legal immigration to the U.S. to satisfy the needs of big business.
From slogans like “Diversity is our strength” to claims that the U.S. is a “nation of immigrants,” the top three Democrat candidates largely agree on wanting to expand rights to all illegal aliens, driving more legal immigration to the country beyond the current annual total of about 1.2 million, and denouncing President Trump’s high-wage, low-immigration economic model.
Here, Breitbart News breaks down the immigration stances among former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) before they hit the debate stage this week:
Joe Biden
In a Miami Herald op-ed this week, Biden released his blueprint for America’s immigration system which begins by declaring that the 3.5 million illegal aliens who are enrolled and eligible for President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “are Americans.”
“We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants … that starts by recognizing that DREAMers are Americans, and Congress needs to make it official,” Biden wrote. ‘The millions of undocumented people in the United States can only be brought out of the shadows through fair treatment, not ugly threats.”
Aside from giving amnesty to all illegal aliens, Biden said it is the “obligation” of Americans to provide all illegal aliens with free healthcare.
Biden has also supported the President George W. Bush-era policy that states “any willing worker” should be allowed to come to the U.S. to compete against America’s working and middle class for jobs.
“Instead of sending [foreign graduates] home, we should be a stamping a green card on their diploma as they walk across the stage,” Biden said in 2013. “Literally, I mean this literally, not figuratively, literally … we’ve also proposed adding additional H-1B visas so that American employers can hire the best and the brightest no matter where they come from if they can’t be found here.”
At the U.S.-Mexico border, Biden opposes building a wall to stop illegal immigration. Instead, Biden has said, the southern border should be secured using “smart investments in border technology.” These same “border technology” initiatives were implemented by former President Bush and failed so much that the Obama administration halted them entirely.
Bernie Sanders
Though Sanders has touted his plans to increase the minimum wage for America’s working and middle class, his immigration platform increases the foreign competition that Americans would be subjected to in the labor market.
Biden, through the years, has raised concerns with mass immigration and its depressing impact on Americans’ wages and job prospects, but in May he called for amnesty for all 11 to 22 million illegal aliens, according to the Las Vegas Sun:
As it stands, Sanders said, the 1.8 million so-called Dreamers would “immediately” gain permanent legal status, and the rest of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally would be able to “come out of the shadow,” he said. There would also be a “path to citizenship.” [Emphasis added]
Since 2013, Sanders has voted to increase legal immigration levels and foreign worker visa programs, including the process known as “chain migration” whereby newly naturalized citizens can bring an unlimited number of foreign relatives to the country.
Sanders has advocated for increasing detention space at the U.S.-Mexico border to create adequate space for federal immigration officials to hold illegal aliens, but he also railed against the deportation of illegal aliens who have final orders for removal.
Sanders, like many Democrats running for president, supports giving free health care to all illegal aliens, which American taxpayers would fund.
Elizabeth Warren
Warren has proposed a robust plan founded in “economic patriotism” similar to that of Trump’s, but her plan is undermined by her broadly open borders worldview.
This week, Warren announced that she was joining the likes of fellow Democrat primary candidate Julián Castro — known for his mass immigration stances — by announcing that if she were to become president, she would decriminalize illegal immigration, thus making it not a criminal offense for foreign nationals to cross into the U.S.
“We should not be criminalizing mamas and babies trying to flee violence at home or trying to build a better future,” Warren said.
Like Biden and Sanders, Warren has proposed legalizing all illegal aliens living in the U.S., giving them a pathway to become American citizens, and providing taxpayer-funded healthcare to all illegal aliens.
“We must pass comprehensive immigration reform that is in line with our values, creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants including our DREAMers, and protects our borders,” Warren said.
Warren has favored expanding chain migration that would increase legal immigration levels; has vowed that she will not build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, calling it a “monument to hate and division”; and has said she will end all private detention of border crossers and illegal aliens.
Democrats are expected to continue attacking Trump’s immigration policies during their scheduled debates this week, despite the administration’s “Hire American” initiative leading to increased wages for America’s working and blue collar class, along with more disenfranchised Americans entering the labor market.
The 2020 Democrat presidential primary debates air on NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo on June 26 and June 27.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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