2020 presidential candidates on DACA and Dreamers

2020 presidential candidates on the issues

Abortion • Affordable Care Act • Border security • Charter schools and voucher programs • China • Climate change • Coronavirus recovery • Criminal justice • DACA and Dreamers • Economy • Education • Energy and environmental issues • Foreign policy • Gun regulation • Healthcare • Immigration • Immigration enforcement • Impeachment • Medicare for All • Middle East and North Africa • Minimum wage • NAFTA and USMCA • North Korea • Paid leave • Policing • Prescription drug costs • Russia • Social Security • Student loan debt • South and Central America • Supreme Court vacancy • Tariffs • Taxes • Trade

Presidential election
Donald Trump

Joe Biden

Howie Hawkins

Jo Jorgensen

This page includes statements from the 2020 presidential candidates on DACA and Dreamers. These statements were compiled from each candidate's official campaign website, editorials, speeches, and interviews. Click the following links for policy statements about related issues: immigration, border security, and immigration enforcement.

The candidates featured on this page are the 2020 presidential nominees from the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green parties.

Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Howie Hawkins
Jo Jorgensen

DACA and Dreamers

Republican candidates

Donald Trump

Donald Trump's campaign website says that "Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security took action to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in an orderly fashion, following the assessment of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that DACA lacks legal authorization. This action gives Congress the opportunity to consider appropriate legislative solutions, as required by our Constitution."

Trump also tweeted about DACA, "Totally illegal document which would actually give the President new powers." ^{[source, as of 2020-09-10]}

Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford's campaign website does not include a position on DACA.

His website says about immigration, "I view the immigration issue primarily through the principle of fairness and the rule of law. To have a thousand people a day illegally crossing our border, or for that matter, overstaying their visa, is to make a mockery of the rule of law. It's also not fair to the millions who are either waiting for their chance to come to our country, or have already gone through the legal immigration process. My votes and stands in Congress and the Governorship have been consistent with this view." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-10]}

Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh said during a debate, "I want our laws followed. But we've got eleven to how many people in this country illegally we got almost a million Dreamers who are here through no fault of their own. Both sides have to come together and give a little on this issue because it's not getting better. There has to be a tradeoff. Between border security and dealing with the immigrants who are here and the biggest problem at the border right now ... is this asylum issue and that's something we got to move on a lot faster." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-24]}

Bill Weld

Bill Weld said in a speech, "We don’t need a path to citizenship for eleven million people, but we do need more and longer work visas." ^{[source, as of 2019-02-15]}

Democratic candidates

Joe Biden

Joe Biden's campaign website says, "As Vice President, Biden championed the creation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program; the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program; the Central American Minors program, which allowed parents with legal status in the U.S. to apply to bring their children up from Central America to live with them; and the creation of a White House task force to support new Americans and help them integrate into their new homes and communities." ^{[source, as of 2020-06-18]}

Michael Bloomberg

Mike Bloomberg said in a speech, "To argue that a child carried here in his or her parents’ arms broke the law defies logic, and reason, and any comprehensible interpretation of what the Founding Fathers would have thought anyone’s definition of lawbreaking was. Not to mention, it lacks any sense of decency and compassion. The vast majority of us agree that we should control our borders and welcome hard-working people from around the world who want to come here to work and pursue the American Dream, and provide a path to citizenship for all who are here." ^{[source, as of 2019-02-08]}

Cory Booker

Cory Booker's campaign website says that he will "Restore and expand protections for immigrants who live in our communities as family members, neighbors, colleagues, and friends." It says he will "restore and expand policies that provide protection to Dreamers."

The website says: "After nearly two years of litigation, the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) remains uncertain. In September 2017, the Trump Administration rescinded the DACA program, throwing the lives and futures of more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children - including their family members and communities - into limbo. Over the past two-and-a-half years, the Trump Administration also has moved to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 98% of recipients, as well as for Liberians with Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). These people - the vast majority of whom have lived and worked in the U.S. with lawful status for decades - may soon face the prospect of being deported to unsafe and unstable conditions in their former home countries. Cory would restore and expand policies that provide protection to Dreamers, their families, individuals with TPS, and those with DED status, and promote opportunities to help beneficiaries pursue available pathways to citizenship." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-26]}

Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg's campaign website says, "Common sense immigration reform must include a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living, working, paying taxes, and contributing to our American story, including DREAMers." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-21]}

Julián Castro

Julián Castro's campaign website proposes the following: "Provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and those under Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure, through the Dream and Promise Act of 2019, and defend and expand DACA, TPS, and DED protections, and re-institute the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program during the legislative process." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard's campaign website says, "Most urgently, we must pass DACA to ensure children who know no other home are allowed to remain in the US and take steps to ensure children are not separated from their parents." ^{[source, as of 2019-09-26]}

Kamala D. Harris

Kamala Harris' campaign website says, "As president, Harris will take executive action to keep immigrant families together and eliminate barriers that prevent Dreamers from accessing a path to U.S. citizenship."

Her campaign website lists the following policy proposals: "Harris will immediately reinstate DACA and expand the program to ensure more Dreamers feel safe and secure in the only country they call home. Parents of American citizens and legal permanent residents will be protected from the prospect of deportation, as will other law-abiding immigrants with ties to our communities. Dreamers will apply for the relief they need to obtain a Green Card and start the path to citizenship. Harris will use her parole authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create a first-of-its kind “Dreamers Parole-in-Place Program.” Harris will issue a rule clarifying Dreamers were not at “fault” for a lapse in their status. Harris will direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to retroactively grant work authorization to DACA recipients." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-20]}

Amy Klobuchar

Amy Klobuchar's campaign says in a plan for her first 100 days in office that she would "Protect DACA and TPS and Deferred Enforcement Departure designations." The post continues, "While she jump-starts negotiations for comprehensive immigration reform with the stated goal of passing it within the first year, Senator Klobuchar will undo attempts by the Trump Administration — many of which have been blocked by courts — to deport DREAMers and immigrants who are living, working and succeeding here under Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforcement Departure." ^{[source, as of 2019-06-18]}

Beto O'Rourke

Beto O'Rourke's campaign website says he would, "Immediately remove the fear of deportation for Dreamers and their parents and Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure beneficiaries, and begin work towards a permanent legislative solution." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-27]}

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders supports expanding the DACA and DAPA programs.

His campaign website calls for the following policy: "Expand DACA and DAPA, including providing immediate legal status for young people eligible for the DACA program and developing a humane policy for those seeking asylum." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-23]}

Thomas Steyer

Tom Steyer tweeted, "A win for DACA is a win for justice. The system stands up to pressure. Protection for young DREAMers. We will settle for nothing less." ^{[source, as of 2018-04-25]}

Elizabeth Warren

Elizabeth Warren supports reinstating and expanding the DACA program.

In a Medium post, Warren said, "We should immediately reinstate the DACA program and protections for our Dreamers and their families. I’ll expand the program to cover more young people by extending the cut-off date, eliminating the arbitrary application age requirement, and extending the “minor” designation to anyone who was brought to the U.S. under the age of 18. But Dreamers have families and communities that are productive, longtime members of our American family and need protection too. The same is true of the Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure holders. I’ll extend the individual exercise of discretion to offer deferred action protections to hardworking immigrants who have contributed to our country for years and have built careers and families here. And I’ll push for a far-reaching legislative fix that provides a fair but achievable path to citizenship for them." ^{[source, as of 2019-07-11]}

Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang's campaign website says, "Children who have never known any life other than growing up in America should not be living in fear of being deported from the only place they have ever known. We should assure them that this is their home and their future is here. I am the son of immigrants. I understand what this country can do for families and what it means to people." "As President, I will… Support the DREAM Act as a part of comprehensive immigration and border security reforms." ^{[source, as of 2019-08-28]}

Green candidates

Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins' campaign website says, "The federal government should end its defense in court of Trump’s executive order attempting to end the DACA program. The federal government should start properly administering the program." ^{[source, as of 2020-07-09]}

Libertarian candidates

Jo Jorgensen

Jo Jorgensen's campaign website says children of illegal immigrants should be granted legal citizenship if they were born in the United States. Her website also says that illegal immigrants should not be offered in-state tuition rates at public colleges. ^{[source, as of 2020-07-28]}

Other policy pages

Abortion

2020 presidential candidates on abortion

Criminal justice

Economy

Education

Energy and environmental issues

Foreign policy

Gun regulation

2020 presidential candidates on gun regulation

Healthcare

Immigration

Impeachment

2020 presidential candidates on impeachment

Labor

Trade

Footnotes