In a polarizing Presidential election battle, it is no surprise that the Presidential nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties are offering very different policies on immigration issues and reform. We summarize their respective, published stances below.

Donald Trump (Republican)
Mr. Trump’s immigration policy is centered the following key components:
• Terminating the Department of State’s J-1 cultural exchange program for international interns and trainees.
• Ending birthright citizenship.
• Repealing “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) that currently provides temporary protection to undocumented younger people who have grown up in the U.S., graduated high school, and have no criminal records.
• Building a wall across the southern border and requiring that Mexico pay for the wall. Until the Mexican government pays for it, Mr. Trump has vowed that the U.S. will increase fees on Mexican nationals seeking entry to the U.S.
• Tripling the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and detaining foreign people apprehended crossing the border (rather than take a “catch and release” approach).
• Banning nationals from Syria and Libya from entering the U.S. (and possibly a broader ban of all Muslims) until vetting mechanisms are in place.
• Requiring all employers to register in the government’s e-verify program to ensure that all U.S. employment is properly authorized.
• Controlling the admission of new low-earning workers and enforcing a “hire American workers first” policy by increasing currently set prevailing wages for the H-1B visa category to encourage companies to give entry-level jobs to U.S. workers.
• Increasing standards for the admission of refugees and asylum-seekers.
• Providing no path to legal status for undocumented migrants.

Hillary Clinton (Democrat)
Mrs. Clinton’s immigration policy is focused on comprehensive immigration reform. Specifically, Mrs. Clinton has undertaken to introduce comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to full and equal citizenship within her first 100 days in office. This reform will entail:
• Fixing the family visa backlog which can currently require decades of waiting.
• Supporting President Obama’s DACA program that currently provides temporary protection  to undocumented younger people who have grown up in the U.S., graduated high school, and have no criminal records. She has resolved to create a simple system to enable affected individuals to make their case to remain in the U.S., including expanding U.S. employment authorization.
• Supporting President Obama’s “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents” (DAPA) program that would provide temporary protection to certain parents of US citizen children who have lived in the U.S. for a long time and have no criminal history.
• Ending the 3-year and 10-year bar that prevents many people from applying for a green card due to substantial overstays.
• Protecting U.S. borders and national security by humane, targeted and effective enforcement of immigration laws, focusing on detaining and deporting those individuals who have committed crimes or pose a violent threat to public safety.
• Expanding access to affordable health care to all families regardless of immigration status, by allowing them to buy into the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
• Ending family detention and closing private immigration detention centers.
• Ensuring that refugees who seek asylum in the U.S. have a fair opportunity to present their cases.
• Promoting naturalization by working to expand fee waivers to alleviate naturalization costs, increasing access to language programs to encourage English proficiency, and increasing outreach and education to help more people navigate the process.