The Stakes on Immigration

Nine years after Donald Trump’s rise in American politics, the stakes on immigration may seem clear enough.Trump wants a harsh crackdown on illegal immigration, with a border wall and mass deportations.

Kamala Harris wants an approach that balances border security with human rights considerations.That broad framing gets many things right, but it also masks some nuance and overlap between the two candidates.Consider: Trump says he wants to increase at least some forms of legal immigration.

And Harris supports a bill that would help build the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.Those are not the positions voters typically hear from either candidate.The Morning is running a series in which we explain how the government would work differently under Harris or Trump.

In this installment, I focus on immigration.Their recordsTrump: Since he entered politics in 2015, no issue has animated Trump like immigration.When he was in the White House, he built parts of the wall.He enacted a travel ban focused on Muslim countries.

He separated families who crossed the border, in an attempt to deter future migrants.He worked with Mexico to stop people from entering the U.S.

He closed the border to nonessential travel during the Covid pandemic.But he has also fought immigration restrictions for his own political benefit.Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of senators proposed a bill that would have limited asylum — a major source of undocumented immigration — and hired more border guards, among other changes.

Trump called on Republican lawmakers to oppose the bill because he worried it would prevent him from running on immigration if President Biden fixed the problem.Harris: Vice President Harris comes from an administration with a shifting record on immigration.At first, Biden relaxed rules.He undid many of Trump’s policies and spoke warmly about migrants.

The number of illegal border crossings soared....