Exclusive — 2024 GOP Candidate Immigration Questionnaire: Hopefuls Explain Vision for Migration Policy Ahead of Debate

By admin On Aug 22, 2023

Most of the 2024 GOP presidential candidates ahead of the first Republican debate on Wednesday answered an in-depth 10-question immigration policy questionnaire from Breitbart News.

The ten questions were designed to elicit an understanding of how each candidate would approach border security, immigration enforcement, and, perhaps most importantly, the economic impacts of migration policy. This immigration questionnaire is the first issue set in a series of policy-focused efforts Breitbart News will be conducting over the course of the 2024 primary. The questions were sent a little more than a week ago to the top GOP presidential candidates who qualified for the first primary debate.

The campaigns of former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provided in-depth answers to the questions. It’s worth noting that the DeSantis campaign answers came from a spokesman, where the other aforementioned campaigns provided answers directly from the candidate himself or herself.

The campaigns of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum did not answer the questions but provided statements on the issue of immigration (Ramaswamy from the candidate himself and Burgum from a spokesman for the campaign). The only candidate who did not respond at all was former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose campaign spokesman Karl Rickett did not acknowledge receipt of the questionnaire or respond to several follow-up inquiries about it.

The questionnaire was sent to candidates who qualified for the first debate by meeting the Republican National Committee (RNC) polling and donation metrics as of Monday, August 14; hence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson—who has since qualified for the debate—was not sent the questions.

Below are the questions (in italics) along with the unedited answers in full from each candidate who answered them. Also below are the quotes Ramaswamy’s and Burgum’s campaigns supplied in lieu of answering the questions.

FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 6, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

BREITBART QUESTION #1: Will you order the detention of all illegal migrants who are claiming asylum until their cases are decided? What are the specifics of your plan to handle the astounding number of asylum seekers while their cases are decided?

TRUMP: The policy that we had in place in 2020 — including Safe Third Agreements, Title 42, Transit Ban, etc. — allowed us to immediately remove illegal aliens from U.S. soil and categorically invalidate their asylum claims. This is how we defeated the mass migration machine and, for the first time in history, completely eliminated Catch and Release. In a second term, we will immediately reimplement these policies with the goal of removing all illegal crossers as rapidly as possible from U.S. soil, and as far away from the United States as possible. At no point will any alien be released into the United States but will instead be detained continuously until the rapid ejection from our country takes place. The goal is not merely to stop the release of aliens into the United States, but to stop all forms of asylum shopping by making clear that you must seek asylum elsewhere and you will not be granted any form of entry into the United States.

BREITBART QUESTION #2: Should slots for visa workers—including H-1B workers—be awarded on a highest-salary first rule? Please explain your rationale.

TRUMP: In order to protect American STEM workers, we will reimplement all of our historic actions regarding H-1B workers, including the termination of the visa lottery, the non-displacement rule, and the highest salary first rule.

BREITBART QUESTION #3: Americans are getting poorer in large part due to inflation. Why import new workers to compete with them? Will you support cutting legal immigration levels into the United States until wages stabilize for middle and working class Americans? What do you believe are the criteria to become a legal immigrant?

TRUMP: Yes. We will immediately restore the full suite of policies we had in 2020, which includes the Public Charge regulation, the sponsor vetting and repayment policies (implementing the curbs from the 1996 law), the Travel Ban (which will be expanded further), and the Healthcare 212 Act (barring the entry of new residents who will depend on the state for healthcare). We will also be directing the State Department to implement new ideological screening as well as completing the transformation of USCIS into an agency whose mission is to protect Americans. We will also restore and expand our efforts to ensure integrity and defeat fraud in the naturalization process.

BREITBART QUESTION #4: Will you extend the temporary parole status given to migrants by DHS Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?

TRUMP: No. All parole will be terminated retroactively and prospectively.

BREITBART QUESTION #5: What is your target number for annual deportations of illegal migrants who are not found guilty of felonies?

TRUMP: To achieve the highest rate of deportation in U.S. history, we will deputize the National Guard as well as state and local law enforcement. We will also invoke the Alien Enemies Act.

In addition, we will resume our historic worksite enforcement and reimplement our Flores regulation to remove family units from the interior. We will also reimplement and expand our policies cracking down on visa overstays.

BREITBART QUESTION #6: Will you implement e-verify nationally?

TRUMP: We must stop people coming illegally into the country from taking jobs from American citizens.

BREITBART QUESTION #7: Will you impose economic sanctions on Mexico—and disturb trade with U.S. companies—if the Mexican government does not cooperate to reduce migration and drugs significantly? What is your target percentage for reduction in the inflow of both drugs and migrants?

TRUMP: YES. The objective of U.S. policy must be to achieve zero illegal immigration, human and drug trafficking.

BREITBART QUESTION #8: Will you reimpose Title 42, Remain-in-Mexico, and the previous administration’s deals with the northern triangle countries to cut migration levels?

TRUMP: YES. We will also be creating a number of new Safe Third Agreements.

BREITBART QUESTION #9: Will you finish the border wall? If so, when is your target date for completion?

TRUMP: YES. All remaining work will be finished immediately. Despite lawsuits and legal delays, almost 500 miles was built—our original goal. We will add another 200 miles which would have been completed in 3 weeks, except for the election results. This was built and ready to place.

BREITBART QUESTION #10: If your policy is to shift immigration towards skilled workers, will you offset any increases in skilled immigration with decreases in unskilled immigration? Do you see a distinction between skilled and unskilled immigration and if so can you explain that distinction?

TRUMP: Whether it’s our H1-B reforms or our Public Charge regulation, our policy will be to prevent any immigration that hurts Americans or American jobs.

FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE

Former Vice President Mike Pence on May 23, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

PENCE: I will reinstate the Trump-Pence “Remain in Mexico” policy (officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols) whereby we required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting the review of their case.

BREITBART QUESTION #2: Should slots for visa workers — including H-1B workers — be awarded on a highest-salary first rule? Please explain your rationale.

PENCE: We need to fix our work visa programs so that they serve American workers. Companies relying on foreign labor must invest in job training for American laborers. We should prioritize work visas on that basis.

PENCE: There are more than 45 million immigrants (legal and illegal) in our country. If we end illegal immigration, we’ll cut that number down by a quarter and American citizens can expect to notice it in their pocketbook as their money no longer gets debased by Bidenflation. Democrats’ policy of open borders has wreaked havoc on the American worker and American families. It’s time that we ensure our immigration laws serve the hard-working Americans who make this country great.

BREITBART QUESTION #4: Will you extend the temporary parole status given to migrants by DHS Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?

PENCE: No, and in fact I would do the opposite by continuing the work of our administration in rolling back presidential abuse of Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Under the Trump-Pence administration, we ended TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Sudan.

BREITBART QUESTION #5: What is your target number for annual deportations of illegal migrants who are not found guilty of felonies?

PENCE: My administration will immediately prioritize deporting all illegal alien criminals or gang members. Additionally, we will end asylum fraud that allows millions of aliens to illegally enter and remain in the United States – and require that people seeking asylum or other entry wait in Mexico or elsewhere outside the United States while their cases are pending. Legislative and administrative amnesty will also be opposed, as will all forms of chain migration except for nuclear families.

BREITBART QUESTION #6: Will you implement e-verify nationally?

PENCE: Yes, and the federal government must pick up the tab for implementation, and not thrust another unfunded mandate on the American people.

PENCE: Mexico must be held accountable for the flow of fentanyl that is destroying American families and communities. If Mexico fails to crackdown on fentanyl and mass illegal immigration, I am prepared to make them care with every legally viable tool.

BREITBART QUESTION #8: Will you reimpose Title 42, Remain-in-Mexico, and the previous administration’s deals with the northern triangle countries to cut migration levels?

PENCE: Absolutely. We set the bar in the Trump-Pence administration, including with Remain in Mexico that I negotiated, that every subsequent administration will be judged by. There’s more that I wish my running mate had gotten across the finish line, but those policies must be the new baseline for future Republican presidents.

BREITBART QUESTION #9: Will you finish the border wall? If so, when is your target date for completion?

PENCE: We will build the wall and will target our 250th anniversary as an independent nation while respecting the laws of our nation.

PENCE: Immigration policy needs to serve American interests. Our current patchwork system of lotteries and chain migration is broken and in need of serious reform. We should scrap the old, backlogged system and replace it with one that is based on merit so that those who come to this country are ready to participate and contribute to our national greatness.

FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA GOV. NIKKI HALEY

Former U.S. ambassador to the UN and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on July 28, 2023. (SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)

HALEY: I would reinstate “Remain in Mexico,” requiring asylum seekers to wait out their cases in Mexico. That is part of my larger immigration plan, which I rolled out in April, that calls for: 1) Firing Joe Biden’s new IRS agents and hiring 25,000 more Border Patrol and ICE agents. 2) Implementing mandatory E-Verify just like I did as South Carolina governor. 3) Stopping handouts to illegal immigrants and defunding sanctuary cities. 4) Reinstating Remain in Mexico. 5) Ending catch-and-release, starting catch-and-deport. 6) Reinstating Title 42.

BREITBART QUESTION #2: Should slots for visa workers—including H-1B workers—be awarded on a highest-salary first rule? Please explain your rationale.

HALEY: Legal immigration should always uphold our values. That means never encouraging a race to the bottom. We need a system that’s fair and merit-based, first and foremost.

HALEY: Our legal immigration system is broken and we need to be smart about how we reform it. Relying on quotas like we are doing now is not the right approach. We need to bring in immigrants based on merit and based on those who will lift our economy up—not based on some arbitrary number. And of course, we should only allow people to come who follow our laws. The second we stop being a country of laws, we give up everything this country was founded on. If illegal immigrants are not following our laws to get here, there’s no reason to believe they’ll follow our laws when they’re in our country.

BREITBART QUESTION #4: Will you extend the temporary parole status given to migrants by DHS Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?

HALEY: Backdoor amnesty programs Biden administration is trying to implement will end under my administration.

Under Mayorkas and Biden, our border last year was the worst it’s ever been. We saw record numbers of crossings, migrant deaths, and terrorist suspects. The Biden administration is responsible for this disaster. They’ve reversed key policies like Title 42 and Remain in Mexico and have brought back catch-and-release. A Haley administration will undo the damage they’ve done and finally secure our border.

BREITBART QUESTION #5: What is your target number for annual deportations of illegal migrants who are not found guilty of felonies?

HALEY: As many as we need to get our immigration system under control. But we have to make sure our Border Patrol and ICE workers have the manpower to do their jobs. When I visited 400 miles of the southern border in April, I spoke to local sheriffs who told me Joe Biden’s border crisis has turned them into glorified baby-sitters. That’s crazy. That’s why I have called for firing Joe Biden’s new IRS agents, and hiring 25,000 new Border Patrol and ICE agents.

BREITBART QUESTION #6: Will you implement e-verify nationally?

HALEY: Yes. As governor, I passed one of the toughest immigration laws in America. As president, I’ll make E-Verify the law of the land. (See video)

More coverage of my immigration plan can be found here:
Breitbart: Nikki Haley Plans to Halt Hiring of Illegal Immigrants with E-Verify Mandate if Elected
Breitbart: Exclusive: Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Envisions ‘Catch and Deport’ Illegal Immigration Policy
Breitbart: Exclusive – Nikki Haley on E-Verify: ‘Americans Need to Get These Jobs’

HALEY: In addition to holding China accountable for its role in fueling the fentanyl crisis in our country, we also need to hold Mexico and the cartels accountable. I’ll tell Mexico’s president that he either needs to crack down on the cartels, or we will. We’ll send in our special forces and treat the cartels like the terrorists they are. In my administration, Mexico and China won’t keep poisoning our citizens with fentanyl without consequences. I’ll also restart Remain in Mexico and close our southern border once and for all to stop the flow of illegal immigrants.

BREITBART QUESTION #8: Will you reimpose Title 42, Remain-in-Mexico, and the previous administration’s deals with the northern triangle countries to cut migration levels?

HALEY: Yes. Never forget that Joe Biden created this crisis. He urged migrants to “surge” the border. He caved to the radical wing of his party and reversed policies that were working. Now, Biden has turned every state in America into a border state. The first step to securing the border is to vote Joe Biden out.

BREITBART QUESTION #9: Will you finish the border wall? If so, when is your target date for completion?

HALEY: Yes. Watch a video of me visiting the border wall and talking about what Biden has done.

HALEY: The first thing we need to do is to get our southern border under control. We’ve had more than 5 million border crossings since Biden took office. 5 MILLION. That’s as much as the population of Chicago and Philadelphia combined. And that doesn’t even account for the countless “gotaways” who have crossed our border without detection. Now, every state is a border state. Our number one priority needs to be securing our disastrous southern border. Only then can we look at what legal immigrants we should be prioritizing.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC)

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on September 14, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Evelyn Hockstein/Getty Images)

SCOTT: Because of the Biden border surge, CBP and ICE do not have enough capacity to hold every current asylum applicant. When I am President, I will bring back Remain in Mexico and pursue new third-country agreements in Latin America. And I will hire 1,000 new immigration judges so we can slash the backlog, render quick judgments, and stop releasing illegal immigrants into our heartland with a polite request to appear at a hearing that can be years away. But the most important step is to secure our border and ports of entry with a physical wall, military-grade technology, and tens of thousands of new law enforcement agents.

BREITBART QUESTION #2: Should slots for visa workers—including H-1B workers—be awarded on a highest-salary first rule? Please explain your rationale.

SCOTT: All our policies should first and foremost benefit American citizens. Policy around H1-B visas should be driven by the value that skilled workers can provide to the United States and our economy. Of course, the highest value doesn’t always mean the highest pay. We should focus on merit and excellence and attracting people with specific rare skills and forms of expertise that are in short supply and are necessary for America to outcompete China and our other rivals.

SCOTT: I believe any discussion of “reforming” our legal immigration system is premature and moot unless and until we can stop the Biden border crisis and bring illegal immigration under control. Lumping together legal and illegal immigration is a recipe for the kinds of so-called “comprehensive” deals the far left desperately wants. Once my Administration has secured our border and restored our basic national sovereignty, then I will be willing to discuss the legal immigration system.

America is the beacon on the hill. It disproves the lies told by the radical left that America is an evil country. The truth is, our nation is exceptional, that is why so many people from all around the world seek to become Americans.

BREITBART QUESTION #4: Will you extend the temporary parole status given to migrants by DHS Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?

SCOTT: No. I support efforts in Congress to clarify that DHS does not have broad parole powers.

BREITBART QUESTION #5: What is your target number for annual deportations of illegal migrants who are not found guilty of felonies?

SCOTT: If you’re coming to the U.S. illegally – that’s a felony. I will enforce the law that’s already on the books — which this admin is not doing.

BREITBART QUESTION #6: Will you implement e-verify nationally?

SCOTT: Yes, I previously co-sponsored the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act of 2015 (S.1032), which would permanently authorize and require employers to use the E-Verify program.

https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2015/6/miss-senators-cosponsor-permanent-e-verify-program

SCOTT: I introduced the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act — a sanctions and anti-money laundering bill aimed at combating the country’s fentanyl crisis by targeting the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that traffic the drugs in from Mexico.

BREITBART QUESTION #8: Will you reimpose Title 42, Remain-in-Mexico, and the previous administration’s deals with the northern triangle countries to cut migration levels?

SCOTT: Yes. I introduced the Alan T. Shao II Fentanyl Public Health Emergency and Overdose Prevention Act to utilize powers similar to those under Title 42 so that the Department of Homeland Security continues to expedite the processing and removal of migrants illegally entering the country in response to the fentanyl-related public health emergency.

BREITBART QUESTION #9: Will you finish the border wall? If so, when is your target date for completion?

SCOTT: Yes, on day one I will secure the border by ensuring the border wall is completed as soon as possible.

SCOTT: I believe in the dignity of all work and I reject the efforts by liberal elites to look down on blue-collar jobs and denigrate manual labor. My mother worked 16-hour days as a nurse’s aide, changing bedpans and rolling patients. With that said, there is no universal human right to move to America, and every area of policy including immigration policy must be built to advance our national interest and benefit American citizens. When I’m President, I will not focus on sorting people into two buckets of “skilled” and “unskilled.” I will focus first on closing our border and ports to illegal immigration, fentanyl, and human trafficking, and only then on building a legal immigration system that works for both American workers and American industries so that we can outcompete China and become even more prosperous.

FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking on March 30, 2023, in Smyrna, Georgia. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

(Note: The answers below were provided by DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin.)

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: Yes. The law requires that, and Ron DeSantis will enforce Remain in Mexico requirements to stop people before they enter. DeSantis will stop the flow of illegal immigration by requiring people to stay in Mexico before they enter the United States. Knowing that asylum claims have been increasingly abused, DeSantis would expeditiously remove all people that the Biden Administration has illegally admitted into the United States.

BREITBART QUESTION #2: Should slots for visa workers—including H-1B workers—be awarded on a highest-salary first rule? Please explain your rationale.

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: Ron DeSantis believes that the H1-B program has been used to undercut American wages and will work to reform the program to ensure that H1-B visas do not displace or undermine American workers.

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: DeSantis will seek to reduce immigration that undercuts American jobs and wages. The immigration system should provide a net benefit to Americans, our economy, and our country. DeSantis will also seek to ensure that immigrants are encouraged to support our values and assimilate into the American way of life.

BREITBART QUESTION #4: Will you extend the temporary parole status given to migrants by DHS Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden?

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: No.

BREITBART QUESTION #5: What is your target number for annual deportations of illegal migrants who are not found guilty of felonies?

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: Ron DeSantis will order that all DHS authorities and available resources be used to remove everybody with no legal basis to be here and to have their cases adjudicated expeditiously.

BREITBART QUESTION #6: Will you implement e-verify nationally?

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: Ron DeSantis just signed an E-Verify measure into law that is being implemented in Florida. House Republicans passed an E-Verify measure within HR-2 earlier this year. When a bill is delivered to his desk as President that would strengthen E-Verify, DeSantis will sign and implement it accordingly.

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: As he has said, Ron DeSantis will declare a national emergency on day one, mobilize all military resources, declare the cartels to be narco-terrorists, and change the rules of engagement on the border. The full force of the federal government will be utilized to ensure that illegal drug flow is stopped, and he will bring to bear every tool he has to this end. He will utilize a variety of leverage points to ensure Mexico works with us to stop the flow of narcotics and human trafficking.

BREITBART QUESTION #8: Will you reimpose Title 42, Remain-in-Mexico, and the previous administration’s deals with the northern triangle countries to cut migration levels?

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: Of course he supports Title 42, but Title 42 is a temporary Band-Aid, and the United States must have permanent turn-away authority. The DeSantis administration will enforce all existing laws and support additional laws to have full turn-away authority at the border. He will enforce Remain in Mexico, stop the flood of phony asylum claims, and detain those whose claims are under adjudication. He will immediately direct the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to reinstate Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Northern Triangle Countries.

BREITBART QUESTION #9: Will you finish the border wall? If so, when is your target date for completion?

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: The southern border has massive gaps and spaces with no barrier at all, and the border wall is nowhere close to being completed. The Biden Administration has clearly exploited this with its open border policies. Ron DeSantis will marshal all necessary resources and begin wall construction on day one. He will build and complete the wall and get the job done.

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN: The United States should not have an immigration system that is going to lower wages for working Americans. The level of immigration permitted, skilled and unskilled, should be that which is best for America—and not set according to the demands of foreign entities or political trends. This will be the outlook utilized by the DeSantis Administration when making such policy determinations.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

Vivek Ramaswamy speaking at an event in North Charleston, South Carolina, on March 18, 2023. (Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

As noted above, Ramaswamy did not answer the specific set of 10 questions Breitbart News sent him, but his campaign did provide a lengthy statement from the candidate in response to them. The statement in full from Ramaswamy is included here.

RAMASWAMY: The sole purpose of immigration policy should be to protect the homeland. The interests of American citizens who live on American soil. That’s it. Not humanitarian. With that in mind, we have to secure our southern border by using the US military to close our swiss cheese of a southern border and end the illegal migration crisis. We must end the incentives to illegal migration by ending federal funding for sanctuary cities, federal aid to Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and other Central American countries until the border crisis is solved. We need these nations to have a sense of urgency to address the problem. When it comes to legal immigration, we need to significantly decrease the number of asylum based applications that are granted. We need to gut the H1-B system, which is bad for everyone involved. The lottery system needs to be replaced by actual meritocratic admission. It’s a form of indentured servitude that only accrues to the benefit of the company that sponsored an H1-B immigrant. I’ll gut it. We need to eliminate chain-based migration which is anti-meritocratic because the people who come as family members are not the meritocratic immigrants who can make skills-based contributions to this country. Merit-based immigration has to include an element of national identity. Which is to say even if you’re getting a visa, you have to pass the same civics test that is required on the backend of citizenship.In the context of any immigration at all we need to officially make English the national language of the United States of America. We are a nation founded on ideals. That means nothing unless we have a common language to express those ideals to one another. We need to weed out ingrates like Illan Omar and Rashida Tlaib who come to this country and complain about it. No. It is a privilege to be allowed to live in the United States of America.

NORTH DAKOTA GOV. DOUG BURGUM

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on June 7, 2023, in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Also as noted above, Burgum’s campaign did not provide answers in response to the specific set of 10 questions Breitbart News sent him. Instead, Burgum’s campaign sent a statement in response to the 10 questions from his campaign spokesman.

BURGUM CAMPAIGN: Governor Burgum has sent National Guard troops to the border because he knows Joe Biden’s administration is failing to do its job,” Burgum’s spokesman Lance Trover said. “As governor, he’s visited the border twice and has pledged to visit the southern border within two weeks as President. He knows that until the border is truly secure the crisis at the border will never end and there can be no true solution to the other immigration issues facing our nation. Let’s start enforcing the law, holding illegal immigrants accountable and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country from the cartels.

FORMER NEW JERSEY GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE