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The presidential debate featured arguably the most substantive conversation on immigration throughout the whole election, less than two weeks before election day. Trump was questioned over family separations following stories this week on the government’s inability to locate the parents of more than 500 children. The president dodged the question saying that his administration was “working on it” and “trying very hard.”
The candidates also discussed Remain in Mexico, a policy that forces migrants to wait for their immigration court hearing on the other side of the border. Trump argued most immigrants don’t show up to their hearings and that only the “low IQ” immigrants appeared, while Biden said this was not true. A 2019 report by TRAC found almost six out of every seven families released from custody had shown up for their initial court hearing. The New York Times, Documented
DHS Secretary Wolf Campaigning for Trump
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf has been traveling around the country touting Trump’s law and order message with Attorney General William Barr. Wolf appeared in Arizona, where he ran through all of the administration’s immigration policy changes and criticized Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s proposals. Wolf has appeared at a number of press conferences in key battleground states, and ICE has erected billboards of immigrants who were arrested or convicted of crimes in six locations in Pennsylvania. CNN
Federal Court Rejects Trump’s Census Plan
The Northern District of California on Thursday blocked the Census Bureau and Commerce Department from implementing a July order from the president to remove undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census count. The court ruled that the exclusion was unconstitutional. Trump did not want the undocumented immigrants to count toward congressional apportionment and funding, which would likely hurt Democratic areas. The Constitution demands a full count of everyone residing in the U.S. CNN
