Opinion: At the debate, there’s no escaping tough questions on immigration

The much-anticipated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump kicks off tomorrow on ABC, where the presidential hopefuls will finally answer the burning questions America has on the policy matters that affect their daily lives.

Immigration is sure to be a hot topic, and it is consistently named as being among the top issues of concern for voters. So I propose the moderators pose the following questions.

1. MORE EMPLOYMENT VISAS. According to a July 2024 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , the “COVID-19 pandemic, early retirements and less immigration have left the nation with a worker deficit.” There are 8.2 million open jobs and only 7.2 million unemployed workers. This serious issue cannot be addressed by bypassing the visa system to release migrants into the country without regard to whether they meet America’s employment needs, which is what the current administration has been doing.

Question: Would you support legislation to raise the limits on employment-based visas enough to meet our nation’s employment needs?

2. Monitoring the Location of Unaccompanied Migrant Children. On Aug. 19, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, issued a report concluding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement “cannot always monitor the location and status of unaccompanied migrant children” released from the custody of the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments. The report recommends “immediate action” to ensure the safety of these children from “trafficking, exploitation, and forced labor.”

Question: What, precisely, would your administration do to protect these children?

3. USCIS BACKLOG. Between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services backlog was around 2.4 million cases. It increased to 5 million in fiscal 2022. The agency reduced it by 15 percent in fiscal 2023, but it needs additional personnel and resources to make greater reductions, which would require an increase in congressional funding.

In January of 2018, USCIS had a backlog of more than 311,000 affirmative asylum applications (that is, filed by applicants not facing removal proceedings). It rose to more than 1 million cases by the end of fiscal 2023. An agency ombudsman has estimated that the time required for processing that many affirmative asylum applications is likely to approach a decade.

Questions: What would you do to eliminate these backlogs? Could you prepare USCIS for a much larger caseload if Congress were to pass a DREAM Act or establish an even larger legalization program?

4. IMMIGRATION COURT BACKLOG. The Immigration Court reported a backlog of 1,290,766 cases when Joe Biden began his presidency; as of the end of July, it was at 3,707,430 cases .

This severely limits the court’s ability to adjudicate asylum applications. Some migrants are waiting as long as 10 years for a hearing. It also severely limits the court’s ability to conduct removal proceedings. This backlog can’t be eliminated by hiring more immigration judges. The National Association of Immigration Judges estimated in January that the court would have to double the number of judges to be able to eliminate the backlog by 2032.

Questions: How large would the backlog have to get for you to suspend consideration of asylum applications? In the meantime, should priority be given to new arrivals, as the current administration has been doing , or to immigrants who have been waiting for a hearing?

5. Senate Border Act. Democrats claim that the Senate Border Act of 2024 has the toughest set of reforms to secure the border in decades. Vice President Harris has pledged to bring it back if elected and sign it into law. Republicans, however, don’t think it goes far enough. For instance, the Border Act includes a provision that would not require the president to shut down the border until the average number of illegal crossings exceeds 5,000 a day — that is, up to 1.8 million illegal crossings per year.

Questions: Can this border bill be revised to make it acceptable to the Republicans? What concession would have to be made? If not, would you support combining it with the Secure the Border Act of 2023 , which House Republicans passed last year?

6. CATCH AND RELEASE. The current administration has released more than 5.4 million undocumented immigrants into the U.S., including at least 99 who were on the terrorist watchlist. In addition, there were 1.9 million reported “got-aways,” or migrants who were directly or indirectly observed making an unlawful entry but were not apprehended or turned back.

Questions: Would your administration continue the catch and release practice? And what would it do to reduce the number of got-aways?

7. VENEZUELANS. The recent presidential elections in Venezuela have precipitated a refugee crisis, with more than 7 million migrants and refugees fleeing the country to date.

Questions: How would your administration handle the Venezuelan migration flows that reach the U.S.? And how would you make sure that the Venezuelans who are allowed to enter the U.S. don’t have links to violent gangs ?

8. IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT. The Congressional Research Service reports that, “among the 231,095 total removal orders issued in FY2023, 69 percent (159,379) were in absentia” because the migrants failed to appear for their hearings. Only 14 percent of the asylum applications were granted. And according to ICE, out of 1,292,830 migrants subject to final deportation orders in fiscal 2023, only 142,580 (11 percent) were removed.

Question: What would your administration do to ensure that migrants appear for their immigration hearings and that the ones who receive deportation orders are removed?

9. PAROLE. The current administration has paroled more than 2 million migrants into the country. Absent extraordinary circumstances, a statutory time limit will bar them from applying for asylum if they don’t do it within a year of their arrival. They aren’t likely to be eligible for any other form of relief.

Question: What would your administration do with these migrants if they won’t leave voluntarily when their parole status ends?

With less than two months until Election Day, every moment counts. Tuesday’s debate could be the make-or-break moment that decides the race.

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years .

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