A sanctuary country: 2020 Democrats want the U.S. to be more like immigrant-friendly California

Democrats competing for the White House have introduced plans that could offer citizenship for the 2 million undocumented immigrants who call the Golden State home.

Some of the proposals would go further than the protections California has already offered, which include health care for young undocumented immigrants and a 2017 “sanctuary” law that limits local police departments’ interactions with federal immigration enforcement officers.

The candidates have proposed national plans to overturn President Donald Trump’s immigration orders. They want to restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protected immigrants who were brought to the country at a young age. Trump halted the program in 2017.

And they’ve promised to end policies like the so-called Muslim ban and the separation of children and families at the Mexico border. They want to allow in more refugees and clean up the asylum process.

Here’s a look at their plans.

Bernie Sanders

The Vermont Independent senator pledged “on day one” to sign an executive order that restores and expands DACA protections for 1.8 million eligible young immigrants and their parents, and those with Temporary Protected Status and parents of legal residents. He also wants anyone who arrived in the U.S. before 18 to be eligible for DACA.

Nearly 30 percent of the 660,880 active DACA recipients live in California, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Sanders is also promising a moratorium on deportations until the Office of the Inspector General conducts a “thorough audit of past practices and policies.” Sanders says he’ll restructure the Department of Homeland Security and break up Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Sanders proposes redirecting some immigration enforcement resources to creating labor standards for immigrant workers.

He wants to partner with nonprofits as an alternative to detention centers. Many of his signature proposals, including Medicare for All and College for All, would additionally apply to immigrants, regardless of status.

He would create a $14 billion federal grant program for public defenders and open it to people regardless of immigration status.

Joe Biden

The former vice president said officials should prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants only if they’ve committed a “major crime” and pose a significant safety and national security risk to the public.

Biden’s campaign underscores the need for a “regional strategy” to mitigate crime and corruption in Central American countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. He promises a four-year, $4 billion assistance package for these countries to reduce gang- and domestic violence that forces migrants to flee their home countries.

Biden says he would strengthen training for and oversight of enforcement agencies. He also proposes tripling the number of 10,000 visas allotted for those fleeing violence and abuse.

Biden’s proposal includes a path to legal status, including a streamlined green card process and citizenship option, for agricultural workers who’ve dedicated years of their labor to U.S. farms. He also wants a new visa category established so rural cities and struggling cities can apply for more immigrants to work in their regions.

Elizabeth Warren

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts wants to separate immigration enforcement from law enforcement and end policies that require local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws.

Warren says she wants a path to citizenship not only for Dreamers, but family members and students, too.

‘I want to see us expand legal immigration and create a pathway to citizenship for our Dreamers, but also for their grandparents, and their cousins, for people who’ve overstayed their student visas and for people who came here to work in the fields,” she said during a September debate.

She also wants to “reshape” Customs and Border Protection as well Immigration and Customs Enforcement from “top to bottom” to specifically focus on issues like smuggling and trafficking and screening cargo. Warren plans to establish a Department of Justice task force to investigate claims of abuse against detained immigrants under the Trump administration.

Warren says she’d allow 1250,00 refugees into the country within her first year, but plans to increase that number to an annual 175,000 by the end of her first term.

Warren also proposes creating an immigration public defender corps.

She also committed to a $1.5 billion annual aid package to fund programs that target poverty, trafficking, crime and sexual violence in Central American countries.

Pete Buttigieg

The former South Bend, Indiana mayor wants to open a National Office of New Americans to support immigrant integration, and create a national service opportunity to assist immigrants in the naturalization process.

Buttigieg also said he’d allot employment-based visas according to economic demands and the labor market. He wants to make sure more immigrant doctors and nurses can move to rural communities in need of health care workers and would expand Pell Grants to DACA students.

Green card holders would also no longer have to wait five years before they could access health insurance and food assistance programs.

His campaign says a Buttigieg White House would grant 125,000 refugees access to the U.S. during his first year and support legislation to allow, at a minimum, 95,000 refugees into the country each year.

Amy Klobuchar

Klobuchar says she will kick off her presidency with a legislative package to offer both citizenship for Dreamers and border security, to be passed within her first year. The Minnesota senator estimates the would reduce the national deficit by $158 billion.

“We need workers right now in America in our fields, in our farms and in our nursing homes,” Klobuchar said during a New York Times interview. “I make the economic argument for immigration reform no matter where I am in this country.”

She says that she will also reopen international U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices to help process adoptions, visa applications, citizenship petitions and refugee processing.

Michael Bloomberg

The former New York City mayor released an immigration plan that would approve more visas specifically in regions that need innovation for economic development.

His plan promises a modern immigration system, but one that invests in U.S. workers.

Bloomberg says he would institute a national competition for “job-creating entrepreneurs” and provide Community Development Block Grant funding for promoting “cohesion” in communities experiencing “demographic change.”

Tom Steyer

The liberal philanthropist says he will reform ICE and “pursue justice through legal action” against anyone found responsible for “human rights violations” during Trump’s presidency. His plan also includes creating a separate immigration court system under the legislative branch.

DACA recipients could also apply for federal student loans and Pell Grants under Steyer’s policies.

The Steyer campaign also promises border enforcement — “ The United States is our country, and we have a right to safe and secure borders,” his plan states — but one that abandons a “build the wall” strategy.

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 11:54 AM.