“Build the wall” echoed throughout the 2016 Trump campaign and immigration was a dominant issue in the Presidential election. In his re-election bid, Donald Trump has made it a point that the immigration issue remains a key factor when it comes to national security as well as the economic downfall due to the pandemic.

While Joe Biden has made it clear that immigrants are drivers of economic growth and will play a significant role in the recovery of the economy post-pandemic, Trump has made no comments regarding the role of immigrants in the US economy. In addition, Trump has repeatedly promised to safeguard the jobs of US citizens from migrants who are apparently “stealing” them.

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There are several select industries that depend on seasonal migrant workers and Trump administration has promised to bring in changes to the immigrant visa system to ensure that the US citizens are not replaced by companies with cheaper migrant labour. While Trump has failed to explain how this will actually work, Biden has stated that he will reform the current system in a way that will allow workers in these select industries to switch jobs, while keeping the labour market’s need for foreign workers.

Biden has clearly announced to work with the Congress for legislation guaranteeing legal status and ultimately, citizenship for the immigrant farmers who have been working on US farmlands on the basis of their work history. Trump never publicly made any comments on this state of affairs, however, he exempted these immigrant farmers from the nonimmigrant visa ban as they were deemed essential to the US food supply chain during these unprecedented times. 

The Trump administration has promised to curb down the power of cities and counties from providing welfare and public funded service to illegal immigrants. Biden’s campaign has further promised that undocumented immigrants will be able to purchase insurance through the affordable care act, but without subsidies. He also wants to create a new visa category, which will eventually allow cities and counties to have more immigrants to support their growth.