Marianne Williamson on Immigration Author & Democratic Presidential Challenger

Federal agents putting children in cages is child abuse

Marianne WILLIAMSON: It's not just in Colorado--Governor, you're right, it is kidnapping, and it's extremely important for us to realize that. If you forcibly take a child from their parents' arms, you are kidnapping them. And if you take a lot of children and you put them in a detainment center, that's inflicting chronic trauma upon them. That's called child abuse. This is collective child abuse. And both of those things are a crime. And if your government does it, that doesn't make it less of a crime. These are state-sponsored crimes.

Moral principle: open and welcoming to the stranger

A: "It's a major spiritual and moral principle of the United States that we are open and welcoming to the stranger."

Q: When did your family first arrive in the United States, and how?

A: "The story of my family and its immigration to the United States is one of those very typical, but very moving, stories of immigrants who came with very, very little and found everything."

Need to examine how US policy created border crisis

We need to look deeply at American foreign policy in Latin America and how we have contributed to situations where there was level of despair because too often in our foreign policy, just like in our domestic, our government has done more to be supporting short-term profits for major corporate interests than people.

Pathway for DREAMers; illegal immigrants without records

No one calls for open borders; stop scapegoating

The deliberate attempt by some of our leaders to make Americans fear something so basic to our greatness in the name of our greatness will one day be seen as a dark, aberrational chapter in our nation's history. Those who scapegoat immigrants, like all demagogues throughout history, are demonizing others to increase their own power. The hardening of the American heart is far more dangerous than the softening of our borders.

Full path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants

Children brought into the United States by their parents should not be punished for now being here. I fully support our DACA. Our dreamers represent the best about our future.

My administration would reduce the record number of detainees currently under extended DHS and ICE control. I would work to close private detention centers and family detention centers. There are far more humane options that have been proven to work.

I would speed up our process of allowing asylum seekers to come here. I would work to fund and authorize vast increases in Immigration Judges to move through our backlog of asylum seekers and other related cases.

Pathway and affordable healthcare for illegal immigrants