Assessing Overall Candidate Promises

EDITOR'S NOTE: All of a candidates' actions and promises on immigration are considered in these three overarching categories --

• what do you do with the 12-20 million illegal aliens already here;
• what do you do to stop future illegal immigration, and
• what do you do to protect American workers and communities from the current peak flood of foreign workers?

Amnesty & Attrition Through Enforcement

2006: Voted to increase interior enforcement by funding workplace verification Rep. Hunter voted in favor of the Marshall Amendment to H.R. 5441, the fiscal year 2007 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill. The Marshall Amendment would fund USCIS' electronic employment eligibility verification program. It passed by a vote of 358-63.

Click here for more WORKER VERIFICATION actions.

Assessment of Past Immigration Actions
in Political Office

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to reward illegal aliens with amnesty
Sen. Biden voted in favor of a second motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to reward up to 6 million illegal aliens with amnesty. The motion to invoke cloture would have limited further debate on the bill and moved it to a final vote. A vote for cloture was effectively a vote in favor of passing the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 46 to 53.   

Click here for more AMNESTY actions.

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to increase chain migration
Sen. Biden voted in favor of a second motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to increase chain migration by approximately 251,000 per year. The motion to invoke cloture would have limited further debate on the bill and moved it to a final vote. A vote in favor of cloture was effectively a vote in favor the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 46 to 53. 

Click here for more CHAIN MIGRATION actions.

1996: Voted in favor of the immigration lottery
Sen. Biden voted against the Feinstein Amendment to S 1664 that would have eliminated the immigration lottery and significantly reduced chain migration. The Feinstein Amendment was defeated by a vote of 74 to 26. 

Click here for more VISA LOTTERY actions.

2007: Voted on Senate floor in favor of motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to increase foreign worker importation
Sen. Biden voted in favor of a second motion to invoke cloture on S. 1639, a bill to increase the importation of both temporary and permanent foreign workers. The motion to invoke cloture would have limited further debate on the bill and moved to a final vote. A vote in favor of cloture was effectively a vote in favor of the amnesty-guestworker bill. The motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 46 to 53. 

Click here for more FOREIGN WORKER actions.

2007: Cosponsoring S. 774 to reward illegal aliens with in-state tuition
S. 774 would reward illegal aliens under the age of 21 who have been physically present in the country for five years and are in 7th grade or above with in-state tuition rates at colleges and universities.  

Click here for more STATE AID TO ILLEGAL STUDENTS actions.

2007: Voted on Senate floor against amendment to increase border control
Sen. Biden voted against the Coburn Amendment (SA 1311) to S. 1348 to increase border control by requiring: construction of the border fence; implementation of US VISIT (entry-exit system); and biometric identification documents. The Coburn Amendment failed by a vote of 42 to 54. 

Click here for more BORDER CONTROL actions.

2007: Voted on Senate floor against amendment to increase interior enforcement
Sen. Biden voted against the Coburn Amendment (SA 1311) to S. 1348 to increase interior enforcement by requiring implementation of US VISIT (entry-exit system) and biometric identification documents. The Coburn Amendment failed by a vote of 42 to 54. 

Click here for more INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT actions.

2007: Voted in favor of sanctuary policies for illegal aliens
Sen. Biden voted in favor of tabling the Vitter Amendment to H.R. 3093, the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) spending bill. The Vitter Amendment would have denied Federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) funding to state and local governments who refuse to share information with Federal immigration authorities. The vote to table the Vitter Amendment passed 52 to 42, effectively killing the amendment. 

Assessing Specific Stances on LEGAL IMMIGRATION

EDITOR'S NOTE: Unless the following four categories of legal immigration are changed, current policies will add 100 million additional people to the United States over the next few decades.

Chain Migration

2006: Voted on Senate floor in favor of S. 2611 to increase chain migration
Sen. Biden voted in favor of final passage of S. 2611, a bill to increase chain migration through an annual increase in the family-preference visa cap of 254,000. In addition, S. 2611 includes a one-time-only permanent increase of 105,660 visas for exempt family of "unused" employment-based visa holders between 2001-2005. S. 2611 passed by a vote of 62 to 36.

Click here for more CHAIN MIGRATION actions.

"Our goal should be to protect American values: reuniting families, valuing aspiration, creating the system that gives people an opportunity to come here, pursuing the American dream." October 4, 2007; The Washington Times

Visa Lottery

IMPORTING FOREIGN WORKERS

Citizenship for Illegal Aliens' Babies

Assessing Specific Stances on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

EDITORS NOTE: Here are 8 very important steps needed to halt illegal immigration. Aspects not included in this section are included in the section above about Overall Policies on Future Illegal Immigration.

MANDATORY WORKPLACE VERIFICATION

2007: Has not cosponsored the SAVE Act (Secure America with Verification Enforcement) which would require all employers verify employment eligibility for all employees through the E-Verify program (formerly the Basic Pilot program).

PUNISHING EMPLOYERS OF ILLEGAL ALIENS  

Please email information.

ENTRY/EXIT SYSTEM AT BORDERS

BORDER SECURITY

SANCTUARY CITIES POLICIES

STATE AID TO ILLEGAL STUDENTS

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was first elected to the United States Senate in 1972 at the age of twenty-nine and is recognized as one of the nation’s most powerful and influential voices on foreign relations, terrorism, drug policy and crime prevention.

Senator Biden grew up in New Castle County, Delaware. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1965, and from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. Prior to his election to the Senate, Biden practiced law in Wilmington, Delaware and served on the New Castle County Council from 1970 to 1972. Since 1991, Biden has been an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law.

Senator Biden lives in Wilmington, Delaware and commutes to Washington, DC when the Senate is in session. He is married to the former Jill Jacobs, and is the father of three children: Beau, Hunter and Ashley. The Bidens also have two daughters-in-law, Kathleen and Hallie, and four granddaughters: Naomi, Finnegan, Roberta Mabel and Natalie.