Democrat and Republican Approaches to Immigration Policy

Immigration policy in the United States has not been overhauled since the 1980s. However, with an influx of immigration, there have been increasing tensions and politicisation, underscoring the need for immigration reform. The use of executive power to craft immigration policy has increased as it has become clear that a bipartisan effort to pass new policies on immigration is not imminent. Executive power is a virtually unchecked policy tool that the President of the United States can use to craft policy in certain circumstances, thus allowing Presidents to shape the immigration policy of the United States. This study systemically categorises the executive actions on immigration while investigating the overarching patterns of policies between the two parties, Democrats and Republicans. Through quantitative and qualitative policy analysis, over 300 pages of policy are analysed to answer the study’s research question: To what extent do Democrat and Republican presidents differ in their approaches to immigration policy through executive orders? The policies are evaluated on four fundamental criteria: policy area, policy measure, group targeted, and geographical origin. The findings reveal that while Democrats and Republicans are overall similar in the policy areas and measures used, Republicans have significantly more policies. It is necessary to note that former President Trump {R} emerged as a disparity in terms of quantity and content of his policies; he stood out from former Presidents Clinton {D} Bush {R} and Obama {D}. Interestingly, it was found that executive power is used as a foreign policy tool, using immigration policy as a diplomatic tool more often than domestically. This study recommends crafting new, bold, and innovative immigration policies and not hesitating to use executive action to craft immigration polic