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Mike Bloomberg on Immigration

Mayor of New York City (Independent)

 


Staple a Green Card on every foreign student college degree

A lot of the students who come here to study and get degrees--we are letting them go back to China, we should try to keep them here. One of the things in immigration is you've got to do some things quickly in immigration, stop this craziness with 11 million people who are living in the shadows, you've got to give them a clear path to citizenship.

You've got to staple a green card on every degree when they get out of college, particularly if they're studying STEM, I mean, there are a whole bunch of these things, and we need more immigrants, not less immigrants--and a lot of them come from China.

Source: CNN S. C. Town Hall for 2020 Presidential primary , Feb 26, 2020

Create an earned pathway to citizenship for undocumented

Mike's plan will create an earned pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented. Mike will reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, implementing sensible immigration enforcement priorities that promote public safety and national security. Mike will also end construction of Trump's ineffective wall, invest in smart security measures and upgrade our ports of entry to protect the border and increase efficiency.

Mike will rescind President Trump's disgraceful travel ban, end family separations at the border, establish rigorous safeguards for children, and promote alternatives to detention for individuals and families who pose no threat to public safety. Mike will set the annual refugee resettlement target at 125,000 and also restore fairness and timeliness to the asylum process. And he will honor and protect immigrant service members, veterans and their families.

Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeBloomberg.com , Jan 20, 2020

Fix the country's broken immigration system

Bloomberg is a vocal proponent of increasing immigration, arguing that it boosts growth, job creation, and innovation. He promises to fix the country's "broken" immigration system, and he backs a comprehensive reform to strengthen border security, legalize undocumented residents, and greatly expand work visas.

He is opposed to Trump's proposals for expanding the border wall with Mexico and he criticized Trump for using a government shutdown as leverage to try to win funding for the wall.

He has condemned Trump's border policies, especially the "shameful" separation of families and the detention of children. "That is not who we are as a nation," he says.

He supports the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to undocumented residents who were brought to the country as children, and opposes Trump's attempts to end the Barack Obama-era program to halt their deportation, Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2019 Democratic primary , Dec 24, 2019

Closing the door to immigration would be national suicide

Bloomberg is the founder of New American Economy, a pro-immigration research and advocacy group. He told CFR in 2011 that closing the door to immigration would be "national suicide" because immigrants create jobs and drive innovation. He argues that undocumented immigrants are net contributors to the United States, paying more into Social Security and the tax base than they use while committing less crime compared with the national average.

He said he backs an immigration compromise that would combine better border security, which he calls "critically important," with a pathway to permanent legal status for the United States' estimated eleven million undocumented residents.

He favors allowing foreign students who graduate from U.S. universities to stay in the United States, as well as offering visas to foreign entrepreneurs. He wants to end the cap on H1B visas for high-skilled immigrants and is in favor of expanding visas for low-skill labor.

Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2019 Democratic primary , Dec 24, 2019

America's greatness begins with immigrants, not with a wall

Responding to President Trump's call to "choose greatness," former New York Mayor and potential 2020 presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said "greatness begins with immigrants."

"Choosing greatness starts with understanding that," he tweeted. "And it means choosing real solutions to our broken immigration system over gimmicks like a wall."

Source: Twitter posting on 2019 State of the Union address , Feb 6, 2019

Reforming broken system is most important step for economy

More than ever before, immigration is our economic lifeblood. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself a wildly successful businessman, says that "reforming a broken immigration system is the single most important step the federal government could take to bolster the economy." Among the many steps we need to take to restore American economic growth and prosperity, none offers a more immediate return than improving our immigration system.
Source: Immigration Wars, by Jeb Bush, p.101 , Mar 5, 2013

Normalize status of otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants

Bloomberg is a supporter of immigration reform to secure the rights of illegal immigrants. He argues that deportation breaks up families and scares illegal immigrants away from cooperating with law enforcement or accessing vital social services; as such, he supports proposals like those put forth by Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain, which would normalize the status of otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants already present.
Source: Wikipedia.org entry, “Michael_Bloomberg” , May 2, 2007

Border controls fight natural forces of supply and demand

Bloomberg believes that border enforcement is somewhat futile. He told the Senate hearing on Immigration Legislation on 5 July 2006: “It is as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not: Defeat the natural forces of supply and demand and defeat the natural human instinct for freedom and opportunity. You might as well sit on the beach and tell the tide not to come in.”
Source: Wikipedia.org entry, “Michael_Bloomberg” , May 2, 2007

  • Click here for definitions & background information on Immigration.
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Other big-city mayors on Immigration: Mike Bloomberg on other issues:

Tom Barrett (D,Milwaukee)
Bill de Blasio (D,NYC)
Rahm Emanuel (D,Chicago)
Bob Filner (D,San Diego)
Steven Fulop (D,Jersey City)
Eric Garcetti (D,Los Angeles)
Mike Rawlings (D,Dallas)
Marty Walsh (D,Boston)

Former Mayors:
Rocky Anderson (I,Salt Lake City)
Tom Barrett (D,Milwaukee,WI)
Mike Bloomberg (I,New York City)
Cory Booker (D,Newark,NJ)
Jerry Brown (D,Oakland,CA)
Julian Castro (D,San Antonio,TX)
Rudy Giuliani (R,New York City)
Phil Gordon (D,Phoenix)
Tom Menino (D,Boston)
Dennis Kucinch (D,Cleveland,OH)
Michael Nutter (D,Philadelphia)
Sarah Palin (R,Wasilla,AK)
Annise Parker (D,Houston)
Jerry Sanders (R,San Diego)
Antonio Villaraigosa (D,Los Angeles)
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Page last updated: Mar 25, 2021