The subject of immigration (open in new tab) has long been significant for this country. But despite being a country that touts the "American Dream" as "for all," especially in the last few years, it is nearly impossible to get it. (Opens in new tab) The country is great because of its diversity (Opens in new tab)-but with the November 2020 elections of President Donald Trump and Mike Pence and Vice President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, that diversity is more threatened than ever.

Lest we forget, Trump effectively built his 2016 presidential campaign on a promise to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico; in June (open in new tab), visiting the wall, Trump said: 'My administration has done more to protect our southern border than any administration in history. My administration has done more to secure the southern border than any administration in history. The border has never been more secure.

However, if Biden is elected, many things could change, including border security and detention facility regulations. Following are some of the most important immigration issues and the respective positions of each presidential candidate.

Reaffirmation: DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) (open in new tab) provides work permits, temporary legal status, and other protections to children brought to the United States by illegal immigrants. During the Obama administration, the program has served more than 700,000 recipients, and counting.

Trump and Pence In 2017, Trump called for an end to DACA and urged Congress (open in new tab) to find an alternative, stating that if Congress did not, he would "revisit this issue." Then, in June 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could not immediately end DACA (open in new tab). Chief Justice John Roberts said, "We do not decide whether DACA or its repeal is sound policy." (Open in new tab) "The wisdom of these decisions is not our concern. We address only whether the administrative authority complied with the procedural requirements of the statute for a 'reasoned explanation for its actions.'

Note that the court found that the Trump administration's reasons for terminating DACA were illegal, but that does not mean that President Trump does not have the power (open in new tab) to terminate DACA in the future, if done lawfully.

Biden and Harris: Biden praised the court's decision, saying in a statement (open in new tab): "Today's Supreme Court decision is a victory made possible by the courage and resilience of hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients who bravely stood up and refused to be ignored." Biden has said that he would fully reinstate DACA (open in new tab), which is the exact opposite of what the Trump administration wants.

Trump and Pence Trump repeatedly pushed for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, boasting that Mexico would pay for the wall (open with a new tab) through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. It never materialized and Congress never approved funding for the wall. That changed in February 2019 when Trump shut down the government (open in new tab), declared a state of emergency, and turned billions of dollars from the Pentagon to pay for the wall.

So far, about 300 miles of the wall have been built at a cost of about $20 million per mile (open in new tab), but there are still about 270 miles to go. In January of this year, the Department of Homeland Security requested that the Pentagon fund the construction of the remaining wall, saying that it is needed to "intercept drug smuggling routes on federal land."

Biden and Harris: Biden is not a big fan of the border wall and said he would stop building it within his first 100 days in office. Instead, he proposed that better technology be used at points of entry. According to the Wall Street Journal (opens in new tab), the presidential candidate did not say whether he would tear down Trump's wall.

Trump and Pence Number of refugees accepted by the U.S. has declined each time Trump has taken office; in September 2019, the Trump administration announced it would lower the refugee cap from 30,000 to 18,000; as of August 2020, only 6,674 refugees had been accepted (opens in new tab). In Obama's last year in office, about 85,000 refugees (opens in new tab) were admitted.

Biden and Harris: Biden has stated that he is committed to accepting 125,000 refugees annually (opens in new tab). 'If I am elected president, I will immediately end Trump's attacks on the dignity of immigrant communities. We intend to restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum seekers," Biden said in his acceptance speech at the Virtual Democratic National Convention (opens in new tab).

Regarding asylum seekers, Biden also stated that he would change the U.S. asylum process if elected. Those proposed changes (open in new tab) include ending the "remain in Mexico" policy (open in new tab) that requires asylum seekers to wait in northern Mexico until their cases are picked up, increasing the number of immigration judges to deal with over 1 million backlogged cases, increasing the number of DV and gang persecution as a legitimate reason for seeking asylum, and overturning the Trump administration's recognition of domestic violence and gang persecution as legitimate reasons for seeking asylum.

Trump and Pence Last year, the Trump administration transferred $271 million (open in new tab) from the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Relief Fund (FEMA), and other sources to ICE to fund the detention system for people awaiting asylum hearings. The U.S. now has the largest immigration detention system in the world, working with for-profit companies to house the majority of immigrants; in 2018, ICE spent more than $300 million on contracts (open in new tab) with these companies.

During President Trump's term, more than 749,000 deportations took place, though not as many as during Barack Obama's term. Midway through Obama's term, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported more than 400,000 immigrants (open in new tab) in one year, a new record.

Biden and Harris: Biden has said he will continue to work with ICE, and if elected, Biden will freeze all deportations for 100 days. His senior advisor, Cristobal Alex, told CBS (open in new tab) that after that period, he intends to direct ICE to focus on national security threats and deport people who have committed serious felonies.

Biden's immigration plan (open in new tab) states that he will eliminate for-profit detention centers and expand other programs to house immigrants. Alex said, "No business should profit from the suffering of desperate people fleeing violence."