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Tim Kaine on Immigration
Democratic Senate Challenger; previously Governor
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No ban on Muslim immigrants; no ban on Syrian refugees
Q: Should Muslim immigrants be banned from entering the country until the government improves its ability to screen out potential terrorists?Tim Kaine's answer: No
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Q: Should the U.S. accept
refugees from Syria?
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: Yes
Q: Should foreign terrorism suspects be given constitutional rights?
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Source: iSideWith.com analysis of 2016 presidential hopefuls
, Nov 1, 2016
Subsidized healthcare and tuition ok for illegal immigrants
Q: Should illegal immigrants have access to government-subsidized healthcare?Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Q: Should illegal immigrants be offered in-state tuition rates at public colleges within their residing state?
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes
Mike Pence's answer: No
Evan McMullin's answer: No
Source: iSideWith.com analysis of 2016 presidential hopefuls
, Nov 1, 2016
No "deportation force" going door-to-door to deport 16M
KAINE: On immigration: There's two plans on the table. Hillary and I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. Donald Trump believes in deportation nation. Hillary and I want a bipartisan reform that will put keeping families together as the top
goal; second, that will help focus enforcement efforts on those who are violent; third, that will do more border control, and, fourth, that will provide a path to citizenship for those who work hard, pay taxes, & play by the rules. That's our proposal.
Donald Trump proposes to deport 11 million who are here without documents. And both Donald Trump and Mike Pence want to get rid of birthright citizenship--that's another 4.5 million people. Donald Trump has said it--"deportation force." They want
to go house to house, school to school, business to business, and kick out 16 million people.PENCE: That's nonsense. We have a deportation force. It's called Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. And their union endorsed Donald Trump.
Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
, Oct 4, 2016
Barring Syrian refugees is antithetical to democracy
KAINE: We have different views on refugee issues and on immigration. Hillary and I want to do enforcement based on "Are people dangerous?" These guys say "All Mexicans are bad."PENCE: That's absolutely false.
KAINE: And with respect to refugees,
we want to keep people out if they're dangerous. Donald Trump said keep them out if they're Muslim. Mike Pence put a program in place to keep them out if they're from Syria. We should focus upon danger, not upon discrimination.
PENCE: As governor,
I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state. So you bet I suspended that program. And I stand by that decision.
KAINE: Sure. Hillary and I will do immigration enforcement and we'll vet refugees based on whether
they're dangerous or not. We won't do it based on discriminating against you from the country you come from or the religion that you practice. That is completely antithetical to the Jeffersonian values of [democracy].
Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
, Oct 4, 2016
Barring Syrian refugees is antithetical to democracy
KAINE: We have different views on refugee issues and on immigration. Hillary and I want to do enforcement based on "Are people dangerous?" These guys say "All Mexicans are bad."PENCE: That's absolutely false.
KAINE: And with respect to refugees,
we want to keep people out if they're dangerous. Donald Trump said keep them out if they're Muslim. Mike Pence put a program in place to keep them out if they're from Syria. We should focus upon danger, not upon discrimination.
PENCE: As governor,
I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state. So you bet I suspended that program. And I stand by that decision.
KAINE: Sure. Hillary and I will do immigration enforcement and we'll vet refugees based on whether
they're dangerous or not. We won't do it based on discriminating against you from the country you come from or the religion that you practice. That is completely antithetical to the Jeffersonian values of [democracy].
Source: 2016 Vice-Presidential Debate at Longwood University
, Oct 4, 2016
Urges US to accept more Syrian refugees
The United States traditionally accepts at least 50 percent of resettlement cases from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).˙ However, we have accepted only approximately 700 refugees since the beginning of the Syrian conflict,
an unacceptably low number. While the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, we must also dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
, Jul 23, 2016
Supported 2013 Senate immigration reform package
I was proud to join a majority of my Senate colleagues to pass a historic comprehensive immigration reform package in 2013, as well as speak about its importance in˙Spanish on the Senate floor. I support efforts to expand the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) programs. For far too long, our immigration system has placed undue burdens on legal immigrants and kept millions of others living in the shadows of our society.
Source: Kaine's Senate office website, during 2016 Veepstakes
, Jun 23, 2016
Give millions of families an earned pathway to citizenship
Kaine said, "Two years, where after a strong bipartisan effort, we've waited for action--any action--by the House. Not just taking up our bill, but their own bill, and in a conference finding a compromise, which we can do. It's time that the House act.
It's time that the Senate and House sit down together and do comprehensive immigration reform. We can give DREAMers and millions of other families who continue to live in the shadows an earned pathway to citizenship. It's time to pass that reform."
Source: Augusta Free Press on 2016 Veepstakes
, Jun 19, 2015
Allow more Syrian Refugees to resettle in US
Kaine joined 13 of his Senate colleagues in sending a letter urging President Obama to significantly increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed to resettle in the United States. The Syrian conflict has led to the world's worst ongoing humanitarian
crisis and the worst refugee crisis since World War II.[The letter included]: "Our nation's founders came to our shores to escape religious persecution and the United States has a long tradition of providing safe haven to refugees," the senators
wrote. "The United States traditionally accepts at least 50 percent of resettlement cases from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). However, we have accepted only approximately 700 refugees since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, an
unacceptably low number. While the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, we must also dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement."
Source: Kaine's Senate office press release, "Syrian Refugees"
, May 21, 2015
Make it easier for foreign students to get green cards
Both Allen and Kaine said they support tax reform that would encourage corporations to repatriate their foreign earnings.
And they said they want to make it easier for foreign students to get visas and green cards after they graduate from American universities.
Source: Washington Post coverage of 2012 Virginia Senate Debates
, Jun 28, 2012
Seeks defined path to earned citizenship, plus DREAM Act
Only in the event of full acceptance of responsibility and payment of appropriate fines should we allow individuals to seek lawful adjustment of their immigration status.
I support the DREAM Act so that students brought to the US by their parents are not penalized, but instead given a meaningful opportunity to educate themselves and/or serve in our nation's military.
Source: 2012 Senate campaign website, www.kaineforva.com
, Apr 25, 2012
Comprehensive immigration policy instead of xenophobia
Q: Do you agree with the Justice Department legal challenge filed today to Arizona's law [enforcing immigration laws at the state level because of a lack of enforcement at the federal level]?
KAINE: I do I think the Arizona law comes out of a frustration with a broken federal immigration policy, but the way to fix it is for senators and House members of both parties to do what they said they had been doing,
they should have done years ago and come up with a comprehensive immigration policy at the federal level.
The solution isn't for states to go one-off and enact harsh policies that really, you know, show a real xenophobic face about who we are. We need to fix this, fix it at the federal level, that is what the president is set on doing.
Source: RealClearPolitics.com on 2016 Veepstakes
, Jul 6, 2010
Supercharged rhetoric causes hostility to New Americans
Securing the Commonwealth's future also means that we must set aside political rhetoric and carefully address the most complex and challenging issues we face--like illegal immigration.We are a nation of laws. It is our obligation to enforce those
laws, and we should continually assess the consequences of illegal immigration. It is equally important to recognize the many positive benefits of legal immigration. We cannot afford to let supercharged political rhetoric unfairly paint a picture of
Virginians as a people who are hostile to New Americans.
There will be more proposals on immigration this year, and we should scrutinize them carefully. In doing so, we have to balance the need to enforce our laws with a few important realities. One
in ten Virginians was born outside of the US, and most of us can trace our ancestors back to another country in only a few generations. The majority of immigrants today are legal and fully contribute, strengthening the social fabric of our communities.
Source: 2008 State of the State address to Virginia Assembly
, Jan 9, 2008
Page last updated: Nov 06, 2016