New Brunswick, N.J. (Nov. 2, 2020) – Catherine Lee, a Rutgers University associate professor of sociology, is available to comment on how the presidential election may affect U.S. policies on immigration.

Lee said, “Given the more than 400 executive actions enacted during the first Trump administration and the president’s pledges to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), further limit refugees and asylum seekers, and replace family reunification with a merit-based, points system, a second Trump administration would dramatically alter the United States’ national identity as a country of immigrants and a refuge for the vulnerable and oppressed.

“Biden has pledged that, if elected, he will roll back Trump’s immigration policies, which will be a tall task given the scope of those changes. Biden has stressed the goals of expanding legal immigration, reaffirming the nation’s commitment to refugees and asylum seekers, reinstating DACA and addressing unauthorized immigration –- essentially major reforms. As president, Joe Biden will have to invest significant political energy toward achieving comprehensive immigration legislation. Whoever wins the White House in November will face immigration issues that, for years, have led both conservatives and liberals to call for thorough reform. ”

She discusses the topic further in “What Happens Next Election Edition: Immigration,” part of a series of interviews with Rutgers faculty on how the election will affect matters of national interest.

Lee is Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s School of Arts and Sciences and a faculty associate in the Rutgers Institute of Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. Her areas of expertise include immigration, including social relations and inequalities related to race and ethnicity.

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