Sen. Bernie Sanders has released a bold and detailed immigration plan that pledges to protect millions of families through expanded executive action while pushing for permanent protections, put a moratorium on deportations, break up out-of-control federal immigration agencies, and undo harmful Trump administration policies that have decimated our asylum system, among a list of actions.
Under the "A Welcoming and Safe America for All" plan, Sanders “will overturn all of President Trump’s actions to demonize and harm immigrants on the first day of his presidency,” the plan states. “There is a humanitarian crisis at the border—one that Trump has manufactured. Bernie will end the barbaric practice of ripping children from their parents and locking children in cages, thoroughly audit and close detention centers, and work to undo the damage President Trump has done to our immigrant community and our national character.”
That includes ending “Remain in Mexico”—this is the policy that has forced tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico—putting a moratorium on deportations “until a thorough audit of current and past practices and policies is complete,” and zeroing in on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, the rogue immigration agencies that have been unshackled under this administration.
On ICE and CBP, he says “it is long past time we break up the Department of Homeland Security and refocus its mission on keeping our country safe and responding effectively to emergencies.” That includes a plan to “break up ICE and CBP and redistribute their functions to their proper authorities,” writing “deportation, enforcement, border and investigatory authority would return to the Department of Justice,” and “Customs authority would return to the Treasury Department.”
On detention, Sanders says “it is reprehensible that corporations are making a profit from locking children and their families in cages and will immediately close for-profit and private detention centers.” He would end detention—including the use of freezing-cold CBP cells called hieleras, or ice boxes—“for nearly all immigrants, with exceptions for violent criminals and extenuating circumstances,” and ensure that children who come to the U.S. by themselves are humanely treated until they can be connected with relatives or sponsors.
“To Bernie, immigration is personal,” the plan says. “Bernie’s father came to the United States at age 17 with no money and knowing almost no English. He didn’t have much of an education and no real skills. But he built a life for himself and his family through determination and hard work. Millions of immigrant families in the United States today are doing the exact same thing.” Read the plan in its entirety here.