Trump and Biden Clash Over Immigration Policies in First Presidential Debate

During the first presidential debate leading up to the US elections, former US President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden debated over immigration policies.

Biden’s Claims

President Joe Biden stated that his policies have reduced the number of immigrants arriving by 40%. He criticized Trump for separating migrant families during his tenure. Biden said, “We significantly increased the number of asylum offices. The border patrol endorsed my position. When he (Trump) was President, he was separating babies from their mothers, putting them into cages, making sure their families were separated. That’s not the right way to go.”

Trump’s Response

Donald Trump responded by claiming that the US borders were the “safest” in history during his presidency. He alleged that under Biden, the “largest number of terrorists” are entering the country. Trump said, “We had the safest border in history. All he (Biden) had to do was leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people who are coming from prison, mental institutions. We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country, all over the world. They are killing our people in New York and California and every state in the union because we don’t have borders anymore.”

Biden’s Immigration Policies

In the first several months of his term, Biden focused on reversing Trump-era immigration rules. He signed executive orders undoing Trump’s expansion of immigration enforcement, reversing restrictions on US entry for passport holders from seven Muslim-majority countries, and halting the construction of the border wall. Recently, Biden invoked an authority that bars migrants who cross the US-Mexico border illegally from seeking asylum once a daily threshold is met. He also announced an executive action allowing certain undocumented spouses and children of US citizens to apply for lawful permanent residency without leaving the country.