Debate Questions for the Candidates

Immigration warrants more than a passing mention

By CIS on September 9, 2024

The presidential debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump takes place Tuesday evening, with immigration at the forefront of the national discourse. The issue significantly impacts the economy and jobs, national security, public safety, government spending, and more – and numerous polls confirm it as a top concern for voters. The ABC News moderators are certain to ask about some aspect of the issue during the debate.

The topic of immigration is extraordinarily broad, making it challenging to speculate what will be asked. Prior to the first debate, between former President Trump and President Biden, the Center’s subject matter experts offered several questions that should be asked. Below are questions for Tuesday’s debate, some of them the same as last time, some new, given the change in the lineup. Since Vice President Harris’s stated views on immigration are in flux, while former President Trump’s are not, many of these questions are naturally directed to her.

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For both candidates…

In March 2024 nearly 1 in 6 U.S. residents was foreign-born, the highest percentage in American history. In your opinion, is it possible to have too much immigration, and, if so, what is the maximum number of immigrants that the U.S. should take each year?

The Biden-Harris administration has paroled in over 2 million inadmissible and removable aliens to the United States since 2021. Parole, however, is not a lawful immigration status and only provides temporary permission to enter the country. How does each candidate plan to enforce the departure of these parolees once their parole expires?

Do you plan to create a dedicated pathway for Palestinian refugees from Gaza to come to the United States once the Israel-Hamas war is over?

What is your plan to nudge American employers to hire the millions of American workers who have dropped out of the labor market and to wean them off reliance on immigrant workers?

Multiple bipartisan commissions have argued that the single most important policy to limit illegal immigration is to turn off the magnet of jobs, and the single most important way to do that is to mandate universal use of what is now called E-Verify, an online system that enables employers to make sure they hire only legal workers. Do you support making use of E-Verify mandatory for all new hires? If not, why not?

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For Vice President Harris…

Read More Here:

https://cis.org/Immigration-Studies/Debate-Questions-Candidates-0

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