Washington, D.C. – On Sunday, presidential candidate – and South Bend, Indiana Mayor – Pete Buttigieg, released his immigration platform, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”: An Immigration Policy for a New Era. Buttigieg’s newly unveiled plan would move away from Trump’s agenda of hate and seek to “respect the dignity of every person.” Buttigieg joins other presidential candidates in offering his vision for an America that welcomes immigrants.
Adrian Reyna, Strategy Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“United We Dream Action is encouraged by Mayor Buttigieg’s immigration plan, which moves away from the Trump administration’s hateful and deadly immigration policies.
In his plan, Mayor Buttigieg calls for the ending of for-profit detention centers, in addition to narrowing the list of deportable offenses. The plan extends DACA and TPS within his first 100 days in office, and includes reducing barriers to access to healthcare for all undocumented people and extends Federal Pell Grant benefits for DACA recipients.
However, Mayor Buttigieg’s plan relies on the confines of our current deportation machine. By reinstating enforcement priorities, Mayor Buttigieg is falling down the same path that led to more than three million deportations under President Obama.
As momentum continues to grow for a vision on immigration policy that helps people without hurting people, we call on Mayor Buttigieg and all presidential candidates to commit to defund the deportation force, stop all deportations and close all concentration camps. The next president of the United States must commit to undo the immigration system which works in tandem with a racist criminal justice system to incarcerate and deport immigrants.”