The study suggested it could have ‘sizable contributions’ in swing states
Kamala Harris is admitting Bidens border policy is a disaster: Marc Thiessen
Former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen, and former DNC deputy press secretary Jose Aristimuno debate whether Kamala Harris changing policy positions will hurt her on The Story.
FIRST ON FOX: Then-Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign website linked to a study touting what it called the “electoral implications” of not deporting some illegal immigrants, saying that the policy “could provide sizable contributions to the margin of victory in swing states.”
Harris’ campaign website touted a “new roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers,” referring to illegal immigrants who came to the country as children. Her plan called for a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the U.S. illegally and protection from deportation for illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders.
Her website detailed, “We estimate the plan will protect over 6 million immigrants from deportation, add up to $445 billion to U.S. GDP over ten years, and provide America’s 2.1 million Dreamers a path to citizenship if they have a congressionally-required family- or employment-based grounds to adjust status.”
Vice President Kamala Harris has frequently called for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The referenced paragraph linked to two studies by the Center for American Progress. One study explored the Obama-era Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents [DAPA] program. DAPA was a companion to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protected children brought to the U.S. illegally, but DAPA was later found to be unconstitutional.
However, the 2015 study highlighted not only the economic benefits of DAPA but also its “electoral implications” of safeguarding individuals from deportation.
“Implementing DAPA is not only the right thing to do for families and the economy—it also has key electoral implications,” the study stated.
The study revealed that there are 3.7 million people who would benefit from DAPA, who have 5.5 million U.S. citizen children.
Migrants walk along the highway through Suchiate, Chiapas state in southern Mexico, on Sunday, July 21, 2024, during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
“More than half a million of these children – nearly 600,000 – are currently of voting age, and 1.7 million will be of voting age by the 2020 presidential election. These numbers could provide sizable contributions to the margin of victory in swing states,” the study noted.
“In Florida during the 2012 presidential election, for example, these new voters would have comprised 70 percent of the margin of victory; in North Carolina, they would have represented one-third of the margin of victory. These figures do not take into account other citizen members of ‘mixed-status’ households that include DAPA-eligible individuals—voters who would also feel the effect of DAPA implementation,” it added.
Harris has continued to support various protections and pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The Biden administration introduced legislation on its first day in office that would grant a pathway to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
In a statement in June, Harris said, “there is more work to be done to fix our broken immigration system.”
“That includes the need for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. President Biden and I continue to call on the United States Congress to join us in acting by passing permanent protections for Dreamers,” Harris emphasized.
