Much of the focus on Vice President Kamala Harris’ immigration positions has been on her pledge for stronger border security.
Less has been said about the other side of the equation — how to deal with the millions of immigrants here illegally or with temporary authorization that is running out.
That’s in part because the Democratic presidential nominee hasn’t provided many details beyond a promise to continue pursuing a “pathway to citizenship” for some of these immigrants.
One thing seems certain, however. DACA recipients would be a top priority for consideration of permanent legal residency under a Harris istration. That m ay seem obvious, given efforts by President Joe Biden to improve the lot of people in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Even before that, Harris proposed a plan to take what was then unique executive action to push DACA recipients toward citizenship as part of her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign.
Biden has since relied on that concept in an executive order, which could allow unauthorized immigrant spouses of citizens who have been living in the U.S. for at least 10 years to remain in the country while seeking citizenship.
Current law requires such immigrants to leave the country and be processed by a U.S. consulate in another country.
Regardless, a Harris victory over former President Donald Trump alone won’t solve the DACA dilemma.
Legal action that could scuttle DACA is still moving through the courts. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans recently set oral arguments in one such case for Oct. 10. The fate of the program likely will be decided by the Supreme Court. The main issue is whether the program created under President Barack Obama in 2012 required congressional approval, which it does not have.
Whatever executive action Harris may take to protect DACA no doubt would be challenged in court.
To win approval from Congress, Harris would likely need Democrats to win majorities in both houses of Congress and backing from some Republicans in the Senate.
During the Democratic National Convention last month, Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Long Beach, was emphatic that Harris would move quickly to seek legal status for “Dreamers,” as DACA recipients are often called.
“I know that a President Kamala Harris is very ive and is going to be ready on day one to sign a bill from Congress to provide those protections that we need to provide for Dreamers,” Barragán told USA Today in Chicago.
DACA gave hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children temporary relief from deportation. Recipients must have a high school degree or military service record and no criminal record that includes felonies or significant misdemeanors.
The Trump istration moved to cancel the program in 2017, but was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 — though new applicants have been barred since 2021. In this campaign, Trump has talked about deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, even though that would be difficult logistically and would hurt the U.S. economy, according to numerous reports.
Earlier this year, Biden expanded the program to allow DACA recipients to apply for employer-sponsored work visas and green cards. The istration also allowed them to enroll in the Affordable Care Act program, commonly called “Obamacare.” Those initiatives also are being challenged in court.
Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has made headlines pledging to sign into law a bipartisan border enforcement bill that would have funded more agents and other resources while restricting asylum requests.
Whatever Republican backing there was for the measure collapsed after Trump urged GOP lawmakers not to it, with the former president openly saying the bill would help Biden politically. (This was before the president dropped out of the race.)
Regardless, some critics of the measure said the asylum and ission limits were too high and that it allowed too many exceptions and waivers.
Democratic congressional leaders, along with some of their Republican counterparts, had ed the measure, even though it didn’t include typical Democratic provisions like a pathway to citizenship or permanent residency for immigrants in the U.S. temporarily.
Such comprehensive immigration reform has eluded Congress for decades.
Yet it’s clear the public wants enforcement and order at the border, and polls show significant for DACA, though more so among Democrats and independents than Republicans. Still, DACA likely has more among congressional Republicans than other, broader non-enforcement reforms.
Whether enforcement legislation with a DACA fix under a President Harris would have a chance is uncertain at best.
Putting DACA on the table with the border security bill could tempt both sides to start adding more provisions, which would raise the already high degree of difficulty.
Many people enrolled in DACA have never really known any other country and according to studies generally are productive of society.
“Dreamers across our nation serve in our military, teach in our classrooms, and lead our small businesses as entrepreneurs,” Harris said in a statement on the 12th anniversary of DACA in June. “They are our neighbors, classmates, and loved ones,” she wrote.
Other migrants may be deserving of more assistance, but there’s a lot of sympathy for DACA recipients, at least in the political context. Even some people who want to kill the program have acknowledged that.
“We are going to deal with DACA with heart… the DACA situation is a very very, it’s a very difficult thing for me because you know, I love these kids.”
That was President Trump in 2017.
