On July 21st, 2016, Donald Trump officially became the presidential nominee of the Republican party. After defeating rivals that included Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Trump was nominated at the GOP convention in Cleveland. Trump has made headlines on many different issues throughout this campaign, including on immigration. In fact, Trump has made immigration one of his core policy issues, beginning with some particularly inflammatory and offensive comments Trump made about Mexican immigrants in June of 2015. All immigrants should understand the views of Donald Trump. Further, it is imperative that immigrants get involved in the political process so that their voices can be heard and that their interests are fairly represented.
Donald Trump’s Immigration Plan for America
The Donald Trump campaign has published extensive details about their immigration plans and goals on the official Trump/Pence 2016 campaign website. The following highlights some of the most important issues mentioned in Donald Trump’s immigration platform:
Build a Wall on the Southern Border
Donald Trump has promised to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico. According to Trump, a nation without well enforced borders is not a nation at all. Trump has promised that Mexico will actually pay for the construction of the wall. Though, following Trump’s recent trip to Mexico City, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto stated that he told Trump that Mexico will never make such payments. The Trump campaign has mentioned that they could make Mexico pay for the wall by blocking or taxing remittances. If such a policy were to be enacted, it would put a major financial burden on the backs of many hard-working immigrants.
Increase Deportations
The Trump campaign has also promised to dramatically increase deportations. On this issue, the comments of Donald Trump have been all over the map. Earlier in the primary season, Trump stated that he would create a deportation force that would remove all undocumented immigrants from the country. At the current time, the Trump campaign’s platform promises to immediately deport all non-citizens with criminal convictions.
Defund Sanctuary Cities
A sanctuary city is municipality that has promised not to use local law enforcement agencies and officials to prosecute a person solely because of their undocumented immigration status. There are many sanctuary cities around the country, including New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles. There are also many smaller sanctuary cities within Los Angeles County itself. The Trump campaign has promised that it will cut-off all federal funding to any sanctuary cities. The effect of such a move would be to arm-twist these cities into giving up their sanctuary status.
Scale Back H-1B Visas
An H-1B visa gives highly skilled foreign workers an opportunity to work within the United States. These visas are used in a number of different fields. There are especially important in California, as both the entertainment and technology industries rely heavily on foreign born workers. The Trump campaign is promising that it will scale back the use of H-1B visas.
End DACA and DAPA
Finally, Donald Trump also promises to scale back a wide variety of immigration programs that have been established by President Obama. This is includes the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and the Deferred Actions for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program. Both of these initiatives are executive actions. As such, they could easily be reversed (or supported) by the next president. Currently, DAPA is being delayed in the courts, after a 4-4 split on the issue took place at the Supreme Court. The next president will be able to make a Supreme Court appointment who will break that tie.The is extremely important, as it is likely the DAPA case will return to the Supreme Court in the near future.
Donald Trump’s Plans Could Affect the Immigrants of Los Angeles
While immigration is a political issue that impacts the whole country, immigration policy is especially important for the Los Angeles area. According to surveys conducted by the California Immigration Policy Center (CIPC), immigrants makes up more than one third of the residents of Los Angeles County. To put this number into perspective, that means that there are nearly 3.5 million immigrants in L.A. County alone. There are many more throughout Southern California. Immigrants, both documented and undocumented, support many industries throughout our region, including agriculture, construction, food service, technology and entertainment. Any changes in immigration policy will have a tremendous impact on our communities. This presidential election is incredibly important because our next president will have considerable and immediate power to make changes that affect our businesses (H-1B visas) and our families (DACA and DAPA).
We Support Immigrants in L.A.
At the Goldstein Immigration Lawyers, our dedicated immigration lawyer has extensive experience supporting the rights of immigrants in L.A., especially in the entertainment industry. We have an office in Los Angeles and another office in Boston. If you you any immigration questions or concerns, please contact our team today to schedule your initial legal consultation.
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