Booker vows to ‘virtually eliminate immigration detention’ if elected president

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a 2020 White House hopeful, on Tuesday unveiled a plan that would “virtually eliminate” immigration detention if he is elected in 2020, his campaign said.

Booker’s immigration agenda, which he said would begin on the first day of his presidency, centers on using executive power to direct the Department of Homeland Security to mandate detention facilities meet civil detention standards of the American Bar Association.

{mosads}He would also end the use of for-profit detention facilities, limit the amount of time immigrants spend in detention centers and ensure immigrants get better access to legal counsel.

Booker’s plan would also undo the Trump administration’s move to eliminate protections for so-called Dreamers, undo the administration’s Muslim travel ban and “expand pathways for refugees and those seeking asylum” by removing barriers to asylum, increase the cap on refugees and up border staffing for interviewing those seeking asylum.

“As president, Cory will make sure that our immigration system treats immigrants with dignity because when people cross borders, they bring their human rights with them,” his plan states.

Much of Booker’s agenda aims to reverse “anti-immigrant” programs and policies put in place by the Trump administration, which has continued to come under fire for its immigration policies and the poor conditions of migrant detention centers.

Only a handful of his fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have unveiled comprehensive immigration plans.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke announced his immigration agenda in late May, vowing to create a pathway to U.S. citizenship for 11 million people living in the country illegally.

And former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro in April called for decriminalizing border crossings as part of his proposed immigration policy.