Where the Republican Candidates Stand on Immigration
The blistering immigration policy that Donald J. Trump enacted when he was in the White House shifted the Republican Party’s baseline to the right. His policies are now standard fare: Calls to “build the wall” once set apart the right-wing fringe, but several candidates now support even more exceptional measures, such as using military force to secure the border or ending birthright citizenship.
Donald J. Trump
Former PresidentHis policies cemented hard-line immigration stances in the G.O.P. mainstream.
We are going to restore and secure America’s borders just
like we had them before —
best ever.
We built the wall and now we will add to it.
When I return to office, the travel ban
is coming back even bigger than before and much stronger
than before.
Nikki Haley
Former Governor of South Carolina Dropped outShe is largely aligned with the bulk of the field and supports most of Trump’s policies.
On illegal immigration,
we will do what we did in South Carolina
across the country.
We will do national mandatory e-verify,
where every business has to prove
that the people that they are hiring are here legally.
And we will go back to Title 42.
But most importantly, we will stop “catch and release,”
and we will start “catch and deport.”
That is how we will get illegal immigration
taken care of.
Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida Dropped outHe has tried to run to the right of Trump on immigration, but is mostly aligned with him.
On Day 1,
we will declare the border to be a national emergency.
We will marshal all available resources, including the
U.S. military, to stop the invasion cold.
There will be new rules on Jan. 20, 2025,
because if a cartel is trying to cut through a border wall
and run product into this country,
that’s going to be the last thing that cartel operative
ever did, because they are going to end up
stone cold dead.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Entrepreneur Dropped outHe has proposed some of the most aggressive stances of any candidate.
Vivek Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, has called for securing the border by any means necessary, including military force. This could violate an 1878 law that forbids the use of federal troops for civilian law enforcement, but Mr. Ramaswamy argues that securing the border isn’t civilian law enforcement.
Asa Hutchinson
Former Governor of Arkansas Dropped outHe is somewhat more moderate than Trump, but still supports strict policies.
Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, in a Fox News opinion essay, called for adding Border Patrol agents and authorizing murder charges against people accused of supplying fentanyl that leads to deaths. “We should ensure those who bring evil across our borders and sow criminality throughout our country are proportionately punished,” he wrote.
Chris Christie
Former Governor of New Jersey Dropped outHe mostly toes the G.O.P. line, but is also critical of Trump on the issue.
Former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has proposed sending the National Guard to the border to stop illegal crossings and intercept fentanyl (though fentanyl mostly comes into the U.S. through official ports of entry, hidden in legitimate commerce).
Doug Burgum
Governor of North Dakota Dropped outHe expresses some more moderate views but hasn’t made detailed proposals.
Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota has expressed support for lowering barriers to legal immigration, a stance that sets him apart from most other candidates in the field.
Tim Scott
Senator from South Carolina Dropped outHe is largely aligned with the bulk of the field and supports most of Trump’s policies.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina introduced legislation alongside other Republican senators to withhold funding from sanctuary cities and to redirect funding that Democrats had allocated for new I.R.S. agents to border security instead. Neither bill is viable in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Mike Pence
Former Vice President Dropped outHe is largely aligned with the bulk of the field and supports most of Trump’s policies.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said in 2022 that he supported a return to Mr. Trump’s immigration policies, including continuing to build a border wall, banning the establishment of sanctuary cities and reinstating the “remain in Mexico” requirement for asylum seekers.
Will Hurd
Former United States Representative Dropped outHe is on the more moderate end of the G.O.P. field.
As a member of Congress, Will Hurd described a border wall as a “third-century solution to a 21st-century problem,” called the separation of migrant families “unacceptable,” and said Mr. Trump’s ban on travelers from several Muslim countries endangered the lives of Americans in the military and diplomatic corps who were serving in those places.
Francis Suarez
Mayor of Miami Dropped outHe is on the more moderate end of the G.O.P. field.
Mayor Francis X. Suarez of Miami opposes many of the far-right immigration policies outlined by other candidates, including by his governor, Mr. DeSantis. He argued on Fox Business that the aggressive immigration bill Mr. DeSantis and the Florida Legislature had enacted was “having an adverse impact on small businesses in our state.”