The Democratic Party has pledged for immigration to “permanently increase” in the Democratic National Convention’s 2024 party platform.
The 92-page document is packed with policy proposals, and on page 68, under the heading “Expanding legal immigration & deterring illegal immigration,” it says, “The U.S. Citizenship Act would permanently increase family-sponsored and employment-based immigration.”
At the beginning of his administration, President Joe Biden proposed the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, and it was pushed again in 2023. The bill, which did not make it through Congress, included a section called the “waiver for noncitizens previously removed” that said some immigrants who had been deported could have their applications waived for “humanitarian purposes.”
The Democratic Party’s platform does not mention amnesty for already-deported migrants. And while the document mentions plans for a “U.S. Citizenship Act,” it does not say whether it would be identical to the bill Biden proposed in 2021. It is therefore possible that key details have changed.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
In its platform, the Democratic Party wrote: “America is a nation of immigrants. The legal immigration framework was last updated in 1990 and does not reflect the needs of our country in the 21st century. Many immigrants today are forced to wait years, and often decades, to immigrate lawfully to the United States.
“A robust immigration system with accessible lawful pathways and penalties for illegal immigration alleviates pressure at the border and upholds our values. The U.S. Citizenship Act would permanently increase family-sponsored and employment-based immigration. The bipartisan border legislation would increase the number of immigrant visas that are available by 250,000 over 5 years.”
Newsweek has contacted Harris campaign representatives and the White House via email for further comment.
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 has a string of clauses and subclauses, and the document has more than 300 pages. On page 37, the “waiver for noncitizens previously removed” section says: “With respect to a noncitizen who was removed from or who departed the United States on or after January 20, 2017, and who was continuously physically present in the United States for not fewer than 3 years immediately preceding the date on which the noncitizen was removed or departed, the Secretary may waive, for humanitarian purposes, to ensure family unity, or if such a waiver is otherwise in the public interest, the application … if the applicant has not reentered the United States unlawfully after January 1, 2021.”
As immigration is a key issue this election cycle, former President Donald Trump has been hitting back at his Democratic opponent, taking a hard line on immigration.
Trump, who vowed before he took office in 2016 to build a “big, beautiful wall” at the U.S.-Mexico border, has promised a mass deportation of those who have no legal permission to be in the U.S. if he wins the 2024 election.
His running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, recently said in an interview with ABC: “I think it’s interesting that people focus on, ‘Well, how do you deport 18 million people?’ Let’s start with 1 million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there.”
The idea has proved popular among Trump’s supporters in the Make America Great Again movement, and “Mass Deportations Now!” signs are often spotted at the former president’s rallies.