PA candidates are all over the map on their immigration stances

Immigration policy has become one of the major focal points of this year’s presidential contest – with GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump frequently hammering Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration over historically high immigration levels and border security in the United States. 

The issue has reverberated across state and local races as well, including Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate campaign and congressional tilts across the commonwealth. Below, City & State looks at where candidates up and down the ballot stand on immigration policy as Election Day nears.

The presidential race 

In the weeks leading up to what has to date been the lone presidential debate between Trump and Harris, rhetoric around immigration has only intensified, as demonstrated by Trump and some of his supporters continuing to parrot false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. Trump looked to blame Harris for the nonexistent phenomenon, which was discounted by Springfield’s city manager, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and others, according to PolitiFact. 

Still, the viral falsehood and other similarly fact-free claims, like Venezuelan gang members planning to take over Colorado, shed light on just how significant the issue of immigration has become in the presidential race. Trump, if elected, has pledged to launch the largest deportation operation in the country’s history – including those here legally – and has also promised to end migrant flights into the U.S.

“We’re going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country, and we’re going to start with Springfield and Aurora, (Colorado),” Trump said during a press conference on Sept. 13. Harris, meanwhile, has said she would seek to resurrect a bipartisan border security bill that would add 1,500 border security agents to the southern border and roll out technology to detect fentanyl and other illicit drugs. She also supports reforming the nation’s current immigration system. 

Public polling on the issue shows that voters believe immigration to be one of the key issues in the 2024 presidential race. A Scripps News/Ipsos poll released in mid-September found that 39% of survey respondents said immigration was a top issue for them this year, while 54% of those surveyed said they either “strongly” or “somewhat” support large-scale deportation operations, according to The Hill.

Similarly, a Morning Consult poll published on Sept. 17 found that 68% of the 11,000 likely voters surveyed see immigration as a “very important” issue.

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race: 

Immigration is a flashpoint in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, where Republican challenger Dave McCormick is hoping to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey this fall. McCormick has repeatedly looked to link Casey to the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies. 

Earlier this year, McCormick paid a visit to the U.S-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, and said in a video documenting his time there that, if elected, he would fight to secure funding to construct a wall along the border.

“We have all the components of the wall laying around me here. We could have finished it easily, but even worse, a few miles from here, the border is wide open because the wall wasn’t completed. This is a crisis of epic proportion,” McCormick said, referring to the Trump administration’s focus on building a wall along the country’s southern border. “When I get to the Senate, one of the first things I’m going to do is focus on getting adequate funding for the wall, putting policies in place to secure our border and get this incredibly chaotic situation under control.”

Casey, according to his campaign website, supports “comprehensive immigration reform,” opposes child separation policies and supports the DREAM Act, which would protect certain undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children from deportation. In the U.S. Senate, Casey also sponsored the “Stop Fentanyl At the Border Act” – a bill that would allocate more than $5 billion to hire more law enforcement officials at the border and purchase inspection systems to scan vehicles for fentanyl, among other purposes.

1st Congressional District

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has touted his support for Kate’s Law – a bill that increases penalties for undocumented immigrants who reenter the country after being removed. He also supports the use of new technologies, like drones and heat sensors, to aid in border enforcement efforts.

Fitzpatrick, a moderate Republican, has said the country also needs to protect Dreamers, and that any policy effort on the immigration front should address both border security and immigration reform. His campaign site reads: “Any serious immigration package must include border security and protecting our Dreamers, who are serving our country in numerous ways. ... I voted for legislation which would keep families together, provide $25 billion in border security funding, and ensure law enforcement has the tools it needs to secure our border and process those arriving. I have also voted to protect our Dreamers.”

His Democratic opponent, Ashley Ehasz, a U.S. Army veteran, said she supports a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the U.S. that “have not posed a threat to society.”

“I also believe that protections for Dreamers and DACA recipients should be codified in federal law, to ensure that, regardless of who is in the White House, those who have lived here since they were small can freely participate in American society, the only true home these people have ever known,” Ehasz’s campaign website reads. 

7th Congressional District 

In the Lehigh Valley’s 7th Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild is hoping to win another term, but to do so, she’ll have to defeat Republican nominee Ryan Mackenzie, a state representative, in November. 

Wild has supported several immigration reform bills in Congress, such as the so-called Dignity Act, which would, among other actions: allocate $25 billion for border security infrastructure; establish five humanitarian campuses along the U.S. border with Mexico for asylum seekers; and expand pathways for skilled workers to enter the U.S., per an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Wild, in an April 2024 op-ed, wrote that the legislation would “strengthen our border infrastructure while preserving our American values.”

Mackenzie has said he supports withholding taxpayer-funded grants from sanctuary cities and that he would support policies that require undocumented immigrants who commit crimes to be deported. 

His campaign site says the U.S. should “promote merit-based legal immigration that protects American workers, promotes American values, and rewards connections to America like speaking English.”

8th Congressional District

This year, Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright has touted his border security bona fides as he looks to fend off a general election challenge from Republican nominee Rob Bresnahan. 

Cartwright’s office has frequently highlighted his vote on this year’s Homeland Security budget, which increased funding for Customs and Border Protection by upwards of $1 billion, as well as his past vote to fund construction of the border wall. “This additional funding provides new resources to stop the flow of fentanyl across ports of entry, prioritizes the hiring of thousands of Border Patrol agents, increases overtime funding for agents, and funds improvements for border security technology,” Cartwright said in June.

Like McCormick, Bresnahan visited the U.S.-Mexico border earlier this year in May. He subsequently said the country is facing an immigration crisis and pledged to strengthen the country’s border security if elected. 

“After traveling to our Southern Border, I am convinced more than ever that we have a major national security crisis on our hands and any effort to downplay this threat is downright reckless,” he said in a May statement. “Migrants who illegally cross the border often have final destinations in places like the 8th Congressional District, making every town in our district a border town.” In response to a survey circulated by the Committee of Seventy, a government watchdog organization, Bresnahan said his strategy for securing the border has two main components: “We do this by finishing the wall and ensuring our border patrol agents have the resources they need to stop the flow ofdeadly drugs and apprehending violent criminals before they enter our country.”

10th Congressional District 

GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, opposed efforts earlier this year to link border security funding to foreign aid for Ukraine and Gaza, instead touting the GOP-led House’s vote last year on the “Secure the Border Act of 2023.”

Perry said the bill would have ended so-called “catch-and-release” policies, which allow immigrants to stay in the community as they await immigration hearings, according to Vox. It also would have required the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to build a wall along at least 900 miles of the country’s southern border, while also requiring Customs and Border Patrol to have an “active duty presence” of at least 22,000 Border Patrol agents along theborder by September 2025.

“House Republicans already passed sensible border legislation last year that underpins the many authorities and legal responsibilities that the Biden administration chooses to ignore,” Perry said in February of the Secure the Border Act.

Perry’s Democratic opponent, former TV news anchor Janelle Stelson, has taken a strong stance on border security herself. Her campaign website states that the country’s immigration system is “broken” and that “both parties have botched the crisis at the border for years.”

Stelson said she does not support open borders, and will work across the aisle to enhance border security.

“It is unacceptable to allow criminals and life-stealing drugs across the border,” her campaign site reads. “I will work with anyone from any party to hire more border agents, deport immigrants here illegally, and shut down the border when needed.”

17th Congressional District: 

Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio has expressed support for two border security bills this year: a bipartisan package that failed to advance through the Senate, and the Dignity Act. 

In a March op-ed in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Deluzio said the bipartisan border package would have provided the president with the power to close the border in emergency circumstances, while allocating $20 billion toward border security and personnel. 

“Congress can fix our broken immigration system and bring new levels of order. My fellow Democrats and I are trying to do exactly that. But we also need Republicans who want solutions,” Deluzio wrote. Deluzio’s opponent, GOP state Rep. Rob Mercuri, has advocated for strengthening security at the border. In a video posted to his government Facebook page, Mercuri highlighted measures he supported in the state House, including a bill that would prohibit Pennsylvania municipalities from designating themselves as “sanctuary” locations.

“I’ve actually been to the border in Arizona, and I’ve seen the lawlessness that’s occurring and the wide-open border fencing, where illegal immigrants are coming over in droves into our country. They are taking action in the country, breaking our laws and putting our citizens at risk, and that includes our citizens in Pennsylvania, even this far north of the border – so we need to close the border.”