2024 Presidential Election
Republican Party Candidate for President
Donald J Trump
Secure the Border |
President Trump has consistently touted his record and commitment to reducing illegal immigration numbers. His campaign’s platform states:
During the campaign, Trump called on Congress to attach H.R. 2 to must-pass spending bills. SOURCE
As 45th President of the United States, President Trump instituted a number of initiatives to secure the border, including ending catch-and-release, building 450 miles of new or improved barriers along the U.S. – Mexico border, and implementing Title 42 to ensure that illegal economic migrants were not able to game our asylum system at the border. |
Mandate E-Verify |
Former President Trump’s 2024 platform does not mention E-Verify. SOURCE
Trump’s 2016 platform included a commitment to mandate use of the E-Verify system (SOURCE) and he included it in his “10-part immigration plan”: “We will ensure that E-Verify is used to the fullest extent possible under existing law, and will work with Congress to strengthen and expand its use across the country…. Those who abuse our welfare system will be priorities for removal.” SOURCE
During his first term in office, Trump supported key pieces of legislation, such as H.R. 4760, Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act, that would have mandated E-Verify’s use, but later backtracked on his 2016 campaign promise to mandate universal, nationwide E-Verify use for new hires and current employees. SOURCE; SOURCE
In 2019, Trump argued against universal employment verification:
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End Chain Migration |
During his first term in office, former President Trump was a consistent and vocal supporter of limiting chain migration to nuclear family members. (SOURCE, SOURCE) Moreover, Trump supported several pieces of legislation, including H.R 4760, Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act, and S. 354, Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue’s RAISE Act. SOURCE
During his current campaign, Trump has promised to end chain migration if elected:
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End the Visa Lottery |
During his first term in office, former President Trump was a vocal opponent of the visa lottery (SOURCE) and supported several pieces of legislation, including H.R 4760, Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act, and S. 354, Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue’s RAISE Act. SOURCE
While in office, Trump issued an executive order to prevent most immigrants from terrorist-producing countries (SOURCE) and an executive order to stop most non-essential immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic (SOURCE); both of these orders applied to visa lottery winners.
Trump has not discussed ending the visa lottery during his current campaign and ending it is not part of his party’s official platform. SOURCE, SOURCE |
Reform Refugee and Asylum Laws |
During his 2016 campaign, former President Trump’s platform supported restricting asylum to “cases of political, ethnic or religious persecution” (SOURCE) and took steps while in office to limit asylum to those in genuine fear for his/her life and to exclude purely economic migrants or those fleeing family violence. In addition, Trump took firm steps to limit fraudulent asylum claims by implementing Title 42 and agreeing the Migration Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico) with the Mexican government. (SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE) Trump also supported legislation, such as S. 354, Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue’s RAISE Act, to limit the intake of refugees to 50,000 per annum. SOURCE
While Trump’s 2024 platform does not mention refugee or asylum fraud or numbers, he has stated that he will work with Mexico to reinstitute the Migration Protection Protocols (SOURCE, SOURCE) and he said in August, 2023, that:
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Interior Enforcement |
During his 2016 campaign, former President Trump promised increased interior immigration enforcement and adherence to the law, as reflected in his platform. SOURCE
While in office, Trump supported legislation, such as H.R. 4760, Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s Securing America’s Future Act, that would have blocked sanctuary jurisdictions from receiving federal funds. (SOURCE) Trump also temporarily reinstituted ICE workplace enforcement raids to apprehend illegal alien workers and charge unscrupulous employers (SOURCE, SOURCE) and signed Executive Order 13768 to increase the number of illegal and criminal aliens considered a priority for removal proceedings. SOURCE
During the current campaign, Trump has committed to increasing interior immigration enforcement and adhering to the rule of law:
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Reduce Foreign Worker Numbers |
Trump’s 2024 GOP platform calls for prioritizing merit-based immigration and putting American workers first (SOURCE), but he has also proposed issuing green cards to every foreign national who graduates from a U.S. college or university (SOURCE) and has explicitly stated that “we’re going to let a lot of people come in, because we need more people” to help “farmers” and “everybody” fill jobs. SOURCE, SOURCE. Trump has talked about his green card expansion idea since 2015 (SOURCE, SOURCE), which was at odds with parts of his 2016 campaign, which included a plan to reduce immigration: “Immigration moderation: Before any new green cards are issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employers will have to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed immigrant and native workers. This will help reverse women’s plummeting workplace participation rate, grow wages, and allow record immigration levels to subside to more moderate historical averages.” (SOURCE) His 2016 platform stated, “America’s immigration policy must serve the national interest of the United States, and the interests of American workers must be protected over the claims of foreign nationals seeking the same jobs” (SOURCE) and his “10-part immigration plan” called for choosing immigrants based on merit, skill, and proficiency and for establishing new controls to boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to American workers first. SOURCE While in office, Trump supported legislation such as the RAISE Act and the Securing America’s Future Act (see above) that would have reduced jobs competition for American workers (SOURCE, SOURCE) and issued Proclamation 9994 to stop the issuance of most foreign worker visas due to the COVID-19 pandemic (SOURCE). In his 2018 State of the Union Address, Trump said: “Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families . . . . The United States is a compassionate nation. We are proud that we do more than any other country to help the needy, the struggling, and the underprivileged all over the world. But as President of the United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, and my constant concern is for America’s children, America’s struggling workers, and America’s forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to rise.” SOURCE In his 2019 SOTU, however, Trump said “I want people to come into our country, in the largest numbers ever.” (SOURCE) After his 2019 SOTU, Trump consistently called for increasing employers’ access to foreign labor. “You do need workers,” Pres. Trump said. “You have homes in Houston, and they can’t get people to build the homes—and lots of other places.” (SOURCE) Trump put Jared Kushner in charge of a plan to increase the number of low- and high-skilled workers admitted to the country annually. SOURCE |
Oppose Amnesty |
While running for office in 2016, former President Trump opposed amnesty for illegal aliens and his platform explicitly opposed it:
Once elected, Trump issued an executive order (later voided by the courts) to cancel the DACA program, with the intent of canceling amnesty for around 800,000 illegal aliens (SOURCE), but also indicated that he supported Congressional efforts to amnesty up to two million ‘Dreamers” and that he would sign both the “Goodlatte I” and “Goodlatte 2” immigration bills that had amnesty components. (SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE). Trump also proposed legislation to amnesty DACA recipients in exchange for $25 billion in border wall funding. SOURCE
During the current campaign, Trump’s official platform fails address his previous support for a permanent DACA amnesty, but does promise to “deport… millions of illegal Migrants (sic)” and to “reverse the Democrats’ destructive Open Borders Policies that have allowed criminal gangs and Illegal Aliens from around the World to roam the United States without consequences. The Republican Party is committed to sending Illegal Aliens back home and removing those who have violated our Laws.” SOURCE |
Stop Visa Overstays |
While running for office in 2016, former President Trump’s platform failed to mention visa overstays (SOURCE), but he did highlight the problem later in his campaign, including it in his “10-part immigration plan:”
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Reform Birthright Citizenship |
While former President Trump consistently stated during his 2016 campaign that he opposed granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens (SOURCE, SOURCE), his official policy platform did not mention it. SOURCE
While in office, Trump spoke of the need to limit birthright citizenship (SOURCE) and in October, 2018, stated that he would be issuing an executive order to reinterpret the 14th Amendment (SOURCE); such an executive order was never issued.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump has spoken of the need to eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens (SOURCE) and has said that he intends to eliminate it on his first day in office if victorious. SOURCE |
Reduce Overall Numbers |
During the 2024 campaign, and despite his official platform calling for merit-based immigration so that American workers are not crowded out of the labor force (SOURCE), Trump has reiterated his support for increasing immigration across the board (SOURCE) and for “stapling” a green card to the diploma of every foreign national who receives a two or four-year degree from a U.S. tertiary institution, including junior colleges. (SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE) He has explicitly stated that “we’re going to let a lot of people come in, because we need more people.” SOURCE In August of 2024, Trump told reporters that would would let “a lot of people in” to help fill job vacancies: “”We’re going to let a lot of people come in, because we need more people, especially with AI coming and all the different things. And the farmers need, everybody needs but we’re going to make sure they’re not murderers and drug dealers…” SOURCE While running for the presidency in 2016, Trump’s campaign included a plan to reduce immigration: “Immigration moderation: Before any new green cards are issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employers will have to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed immigrant and native workers. This will help reverse women’s plummeting workplace participation rate, grow wages, and allow record immigration levels to subside to more moderate historical averages.” (SOURCE) Trump’s official policy platform did not mention reducing overall immigration numbers (SOURCE), but he did include “keep(ing) immigration levels, measured by population share, within historical norms.” SOURCE While in office, Trump supported legislation such as the RAISE Act and the Securing America’s Future Act (see above) that would have reduced overall immigration to the United States. (SOURCE, SOURCE) Trump championed reforms to family-based immigration, such as in his December 17, 2017 weekly address: Ending chain migration and also ending the visa lottery will allow us to have commonsense immigration rules that promote assimilation and wage growth.” (SOURCE) However, Trump told reporters that he never liked the immigration reduction aspect of the bill, saying: “I disagreed with that aspect of it.” SOURCE By 2019, Trump was calling for increases in legal immigration again: “I want people to come into our country, in the largest numbers ever.” (SOURCE) Trump put Jared Kushner in charge of drafting a bipartisan plan to increase immigration. SOURCE |
Compare the other 2024 Presidential Candidates
Click on the photos to review what Vance, Harris, and Walz have done and what they have said about 11 key immigration issues.
(NumbersUSA knows that people vote on the basis of many issues. We never endorse candidates but we do try to provide the most complete view of where candidates stand on the one issue of immigration reduction.)