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As the November election approaches, immigration has become a pivotal issue in the presidential race, drawing sharp contrasts between candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The two differ in perspectives on national security and pathways to citizenship but share some similarities surrounding asylum and border enforcement.
Trump has previously made comments vowing to conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants as well as some protected migrants all across the country. “We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country,” Trump declared while campaigning in Los Angeles last month.
During a visit to the southern border last week, Harris pledged to strengthen border security, emphasizing the importance of creating a more welcoming process for legal immigration. While there, she also touted her experience as California’s attorney general dealing with transnational criminal organizations and said targeting these gangs would be a top priority if she is elected president.
Now it’s up to voters to decide as the issue of immigration impacts not just the country, but many of its local communities.
A Pew Research Center poll released last week reveals a stark divide between Trump and Harris supporters regarding mass deportations. The poll shows 88% of Trump supporters are in favor of mass deportations compared to only 27% of those who support Harris.
Both groups, however, find common ground on other immigration issues: 96% of Trump supporters and 80% of Harris supporters advocate for improved border security and 71% of Trump supporters and 87% of Harris supporters favor admitting more “high-skilled” immigrants.
In Los Angeles County, where immigrants make up 34% of the population, and include 800,000 undocumented immigrants, the stakes are high.
L.A. City Council members proposed a sanctuary city law to prevent city resources from being used in federal immigration enforcement. Despite a June 2023 vote to draft the ordinance, its status remains unclear ahead of the upcoming election, leaving voters without details regarding implications for local policies.
So what are the key immigration issues voters should consider before casting their ballots and how do those specifically affect communities like Boyle Heights? We asked the following four experts to weigh in:
- Chris Zepada-Millan,
- Associate professor of public policy and Chicana/o studies at UCLA
- Jean Reisz
- Co-director of the USC Immigration Clinic and clinical associate professor of law
- Shi-Ming Cheer
- Deputy director of immigrant and racial justice for California Immigrant Policy Center
- Rev. Carlos Rincon
- Senior pastor at Centro de Vida Victoriosa Church in East L.A.
The interviews have been edited for clarity and length.
BHB: How important should immigration be for voters regardless of any election cycle?
Chris Zepada-Millan: If you care about the future of the American economy, which I think most Americans do or should, you should care about the topic of immigration. Economists have been warning for years that the U.S. working-age population has been declining due to a low birth rate, number of deaths, and retirements of our population. We need more workers to keep our economy healthy, and instead, we’re getting a smaller and older workforce that’s just not going to be competitive in the global economy, right? You can’t have a vibrant economy if you don’t have workers.
Jean Reisz: Immigration laws have not been changed for decades but the President has a lot of power over immigration. Each administration will enforce immigration law in a way that is very aggressive or a way that is more humane. Picking a presidential candidate is imperative, especially in this election because the President has so much power over who gets to stay in the U.S. and who has to leave.
Shiu-Ming Cheer: Unfortunately, immigration has been weaponized as an issue in this election and prior elections. Immigrants are people in our communities. I am an immigrant and places such as Boyle Heights and the surrounding communities are such great places to live because of immigrants. There are issues that impact our everyday lives such as access to immigration status, housing, and food security.
Rev. Rincon: Since a lot of immigrants live in East L.A., especially in the neighborhood near our church, immigration should be a priority in the discussions. Many of the people in this community are either undocumented or live in a mixed situation where one of the spouses is documented, the other one is not. Some of the children are, some aren’t. In this community, and especially the people that I serve in the church, it’s a topic that is of great relevance.
BHB: Why is this particular election such a critical point for the future of immigration policies?
Chris Zepada-Millan: Given that 1 in every 4 residents in Boyle Heights is a non-citizen, we’re impacted by the immigration debate on future immigration policy, more than the vast majority. I would also argue that immigration affects us more than anyone else in any other neighborhood in the country. We have the most to gain and the most to lose regarding who wins the presidency and whose immigration policies are going to get implemented.
Shiu-Ming Cheer: DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] has been a key program because it’s enabled people who come to the U.S. and children to have a way to get their permits and not worry about facing deportation. Trump wants to take it away, which would mean people would see their children potentially face removal from the place that they consider home. Imagine those ripple effects, because many people who have DACA are now nurses, teachers, and small business owners. They’re just part of our community. That fear could be extremely challenging for people on an emotional and psychological level.
Rev. Rincon: Well, I’m a bit afraid because our community is very polarized with some against the immigrant community and myself being an advocate on behalf of the immigrants. However, my community and others are very split on this issue, making this upcoming election more important than ever.
BHB: The dichotomy between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is staggering with their immigration policies or lack thereof. Is there a clear understanding of their policies? If so, what are they?
Chris Zepada-Millan: I think it’s pretty easy to get a sense of what type of immigration policies you could expect from both candidates but presidents can promise you anything when running for office. With Donald Trump, he’s arguably been the most anti-Latino immigrant president in American history. He’s promising the largest mass deportations in American history, bigger than Operation Wetback, that’s going to disproportionately impact immigrant communities, which is what Boyle Heights is historically. A Biden-Harris administration, which you could argue will reflect the desires of most Americans to increase border enforcement recently, which Democrats have historically been supportive of. However, they’ve also supported things like DACA, which the Republican Party didn’t.
Shiu-Ming Cheer: The main difference is that Trump would seek to deport record numbers of people. And we’re not talking just about people who recently arrived or undocumented people. We’re also talking about people with green cards who have many types of temporary status to be in the U.S. Harris would support some type of relief for undocumented communities, similar to what Biden recently announced in terms of allowing the spouses of U.S. citizens to have a mechanism to obtain their status without leaving the country. Harris, I would assume, would be supportive of that.
BHB: Is there a close ideology between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to the southern border and asylum seekers?
Chris Zepada Millian: It’s important to understand that there used to be more policy diversity. The Democratic Party has fixated on branding itself as a party that supports multiculturalism in America. They haven’t always followed through with these goals, and they usually end up going with public opinion. When public opinion was against Trump’s border wall, Democrats were also against the border wall.
Today, Americans want more border enforcement and the Democratic Party is reflecting that, so we’re at a political moment right now where both parties, Republicans and Democrats support more border enforcement and restricting refugees and asylum policies. While Democrats might be better in terms of trying to integrate and supporting immigrants to become citizens once they’re here right now, there seems to be a convergence of both presidential candidates in terms of closing the border.
Jean Reisz: I will say that when it comes to the southern border and asylum, Republicans and Democrats are very close regarding restricting access to asylum for people coming to the southern border. I think the Biden-Harrris administration has shifted to a much more aggressive policy at the southern border. I think that Harris, if she assumes office, will also have an aggressive policy and limit the ability for people to seek asylum at the southern border. The rhetoric is so different between the two parties, but I think the actual legal action being taken is not that different.
Trump has referred to this “invasion at the southern border” and the Democrats have an open border policy but that’s not the case at all under Biden’s regulations. He’s effectively expelling people from the border without processing so there is not an open border policy.
Long story short, both parties are very close in how they’re policing the southern border and making it harder for people to seek asylum.
BHB: At the local level, what is the current state of immigration policies, initiatives, or any positives that may affect communities such as Boyle Heights?
Chris Zepada Millian: I think at the state and local level, we’re really lucky that Latinos have changed the political environment in California and here in Los Angeles to be arguably the most pro-immigrant region in the country. We are the capital of undocumented immigrants in America. We’ve given undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses, offered in-state college tuition, and provided healthcare for undocumented immigrants.
Jean Reisz: Now, states can’t regulate immigration, but they can affect the lives of immigrants in their states. California has passed laws that make it easier to reside in California. If you’re undocumented, you can get a driver’s license. Undocumented students can get in-state tuition at public schools. There’s medical insurance for undocumented immigrants. Again, policies in California are more lenient than in other regions across the country.
Shiu-Ming Cheer: My organization has been working on removing exclusions to food benefits based on a person’s immigration status to ensure that people can get access to food stamps. There’s also been a lot of progress in California around ensuring that local law enforcement doesn’t collude with ICE in terms of local law enforcement, cities, and counties providing support to ICE for detentions and deportations. That just makes sure that our local resources are used the way they’re supposed not to assist ICE. Also, we’re working on a sanctuary campaign for L.A. which is causing some anxiety for the future.
Rev. Rincon: Local officials need to continue to be open in hearing what the community needs. What are the plans? I’m connected to a network of churches, and all churches are interested in helping immigrants. We already are making plans for whatever the situation is after the election. But at the local level, what are exactly the steps that local officials are taking regardless of the outcome? How can they reassure the community? There’s a lot of fear out there.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the phrasing in statements made by Chris Zepeda-Millan.
