Blog What do democratic nominees say about immigration?
September 11th, 2008After much media attention and anticipation on behalf of US voters, Senator Barack Obama recently announced his Vice Presidential running mate as Senator Joe Biden, a Democratic senator for the state of Delaware. Together, Obama and Biden support comprehensive immigration reform, and Barack Obama promises to make immigration reform one of his top priorities if elected president.
Obama states that he plans to execute immigration reform by creating secure borders, offering undocumented immigrants with no criminal background a path towards citizenship, and removing incentives for illegal immigration by working closely with Mexico as well as prosecuting employers in the US who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Senator Obama states: “The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should.”
Senator Obama’s Vice Presidential nominee, Joe Biden, was elected to the United States Senate at the age of 29, and is currently serving his sixth term as senator to the state of Delaware, making him the longest-serving senator to the state.
According to Joe Biden’s prior voting record, he is in favor of a path towards citizenship for illegal residents currently residing in the United States, supports a guest worker program, and has voted in favor of construction of a 370 mile fence along the Mexican border.
Presidential nominee Barack Obama and Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden have both previously voted in favor of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, which would have established a path towards citizenship for undocumented immigrants residing in the country and create a guest-worker program.