Immigrant Daily

Presidential Candidates Views on Immigration

One of my favorite magazines online (inc.com)  posted a summary of the Presidential candidates’ views on immigration law reform.  You can read about it here.

McCain

• First — Spend too much to secure borders with Mexico using physical and virtual barriers — fences and attorneys (Making this a priority before comprehensive reform is a change of policy for McCain who has supported simultaneous comprehensive reform in the past, not enforcement first)
• Second — Comprehensive Reform:
  • Difficult, lengthy and VERY expensive path to citizenship for undocumented aliens in the US
  • Magical, user-friendly Electronic Employer Verification System (not: who will find this?)
  • Prosecution of employers that hire undocumented workers
  • H-1B and H-2B visa caps controlled by market demand (note:  why even have caps?)
  • Increases in H-1B caps (Thank God)
  • Loosen rules for highly-skilled immigrants

Obama

• Electronic Employment Verification System
• Crack down on employers that hire undocumented immigrants (good faith exception, no liability for contractor actions, steep fines)
• Improving the work visa program (not much details, maybe increasing H-1B cap)
• More compassion for undocumented workers

It is unclear what the actual differences are between Obama and McCain as their voting records are very similar – they take a centrist approach trying to balance enforcement with the benefits of immigration to the U.S. economy.