ISSUE EXPLANATION​

The United States is a nation built by immigrants, but our immigration system has been distorted by corruption, political fearmongering, and private interests that profit from cruelty. Immigration policy must be grounded in human dignity, basic rights, and shared prosperity—not scapegoating or enforcement-for-profit. I reject efforts to vilify immigrants or criminalize their existence, and I oppose mass deportations, family separation, detention camps, and the use of for-profit detention facilities. These policies do not make us safer; they enrich contractors, weaken communities, and betray our values.

I support eliminating ICE and returning immigration enforcement responsibilities to Customs and Border Protection, ending an agency structure that has become synonymous with abuse, lack of oversight, and the outsourcing of government power to private detention companies. Immigration enforcement should be lawful, transparent, and accountable—not a shadow system insulated from scrutiny and driven by contracts instead of justice.

I support an immediate and clear pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and other undocumented immigrants, alongside reforms that make legal immigration faster, more accessible, and more humane by reducing visa backlogs and arbitrary quotas. Our current system functions as a bureaucratic obstacle course designed to fail—one that benefits lawyers, consultants, and bad actors while families wait for years or decades. I also support restoring a fair and functional asylum system that guarantees due process, access to legal counsel, and humane, orderly border processing that prioritizes safety and human rights over cruelty or militarization.

The United States must again be a refuge for people fleeing persecution, violence, and political instability. I support removing caps on refugee resettlement and fully funding the communities, housing, and services that help refugees and asylum seekers integrate and thrive. Turning away refugees does not save money or increase security—it shifts costs onto local communities and fuels instability abroad.

Immigrants are essential to our economy and our communities, yet too often they are treated as disposable labor. Undocumented immigrants alone contribute billions of dollars each year in taxes and were on the frontlines as essential workers during crises like COVID-19. I support strong labor protections and aggressive enforcement to protect immigrants from corporate abuse, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation. Corrupt employers should not be allowed to exploit immigration status to suppress wages or silence workers. Timely work authorization is essential so people are not forced into the shadows, and immigrants who contribute to our society should be able to access disaster relief and basic safety-net programs.

A just immigration system strengthens our economy, protects workers from exploitation, and restores integrity to government by ending policies that reward cruelty, privatization, and corruption. Real reform means replacing fear-driven enforcement with accountability, fairness, and opportunity—so dignity and justice are not reserved for a few, but extended to all.