Miami – Former President Donald Trump scorned illegal immigrants living in America and threatened to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history if elected to the White House again.
Vice President Kamala Harris supports border restrictions and tougher security to alleviate the massive immigration crisis and offers amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants who have entered the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration.
During the final stretch of the Nov. 5 general election, the two presidential candidates were confronted with crucial issues such as immigration, abortion rights and the economy as they campaigned in the key battleground states that could determine the winner.
Immigration is at the center of the race, as the two sparred during their campaigns stops.
Despite not visiting Florida yet, Harris and her running mate, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are seeking to cut into Trump’s home base.
Despite losing the 2020 election to President Biden, Trump, a Republican, won Florida by a 3.5 point margin, improving by 2.2 points in 2016, and saw a large increase in support among Hispanic voters, primarily in Miami-Dade County.
Biden carried the county by 7.4 points, significantly less than Hilary Clinton’s 29.4-point margin in 2016 and Obama’s 23.7-point margin in 2012.
Trump carried the Cuban vote with 56 percent while Biden carried the Puerto Rican vote by 66 percent.
Biden and Trump split the South American vote with 50 percent each, but overall, Biden won 54 percent of Latinos.
During a stop in Nevada last week, Trump promised to kick out millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally but didn’t offer full details on how he plans to carry out such a policy.
But he hinted it may have to include military troops, state and local law enforcement to round up illegal immigrants for deportation.
"If I’m elected again, I’ll undertake the largest deportation in U.S. history," he said.
Earlier in October, Trump said he would revoke Haitian migrants’ Temporary Protection Status (TPS) which allows over 300,000 migrants across the nation after the Biden administration extended their TPS in June.
But the administration announced it will not extend the program again which allows migrants from Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua into the U.S. if they came by plane with sponsorship.
The decision and Trump’s deportation threat impacts South Florida which has the largest populations of Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans in the nation.
Harris’ position on the border has changed over time to a more moderate one during her campaign for the presidency.
She has reiterated her continued support for the hardline bipartisan border security deal that would have included hundreds of millions of dollars for border wall construction.
It was rejected by Republicans in Congress earlier this year after Trump overtly campaigned against it.
Had it passed, the legislation would have fast-tracked decisions on asylum cases, limited humanitarian parole, and expanded the authority to deport migrants.
One solution Harris proposed to address the mass immigration crisis is to raise $3 billion, largely from private companies, to invest in programs and infrastructure that would encourage people to remain in their home countries.
The two presidential candidates clashed over another significant issue: abortion rights.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe vs. Wade in 2022, it paved the way for governments to enact their own abortion laws.
In Florida, led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state implemented a six-week abortion ban, which drew the ire of reproductive rights activists and spawned Amendment 4 on the Nov. 5 ballot.
If approved by at least 60 percent of the voters, it would limit government interference on the right for women to choose to have an abortion.
Harris has strongly rejected efforts to restrict abortion including a national ban and blames Trump for the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs. Wade.
"It created a horrific, heartbreaking reality," she said.
She said she supports rolling back the filibuster, a procedural hurdle requiring 60 Senate votes, to reinstate Roe vs. Wade as the law of the land.
Trump, on the other hand, dubs himself the most pro-life president in history and has said abortion policy should be set by the states.
"My aministration would be great for women and their reproductive rights," he said.
Amendment 4 in Florida was mustering so much support that DeSantis intervened, fearing approval at the polls would repeal his six-week abortion ban.
DeSantis and his administration threatened to prosecute Florida TV stations for airing pro Amendment 4 ads but the Florida Supreme Court admonished them for violating people’s constitutional right for freedom of speech.
On the economy, Trump blames the Biden administration for inflation while Harris pointed the finger at Trump for approving stimulus money and supporting a tariff, which is a tax placed on imported products.
Harris said tariffs caused higher prices for consumers.
She said the Biden-Harris administration has imposed steep tariffs on some Chinese imports like electric vehicles and key minerals, while continuing the Trump administration’s broader tariff policy on Chinese goods.
Trump countered, saying imposing steep tariffs is hurting the economy and promised to impose a 10 to 20 percent tariff on all goods imported into the U.S. and a 60 percent on goods coming from China.
He also pledged to lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent for companies who make their products in America.
"America First" pitch is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and stop companies from moving their business overseas," he said.
Both Harris and Trump are courting votes in Florida.
Cuban Americans are throwing their support behind the former president while Blacks and Haitian-Americans are pulling for the vice president.
According to a recent poll conducted by Florida International University, 68 percent of Cuban Americans said Trump is their guy, maintaining and gaining in the traditionally conservative and influential South Florida demographic.
Blacks and Haitian Americans have held rallies in South Florida during early voting in support for Harris.
But Democrats are concerned over Black men who seemed to be split for the upcoming election.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll, 70 percent of Black men said they are likely to vote for Harris while 20 percent support Trump.
The latter percentage of Black men said Harris is not doing enough to reach African American males but the vice president later unveiled a plan to benefit them.
It includes $1 million of forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Black entrepreneurs, new business startups to receive $50,000, expanding the child tax credit, and providing up to $25,000 for a down payment for first-time homebuyers.
As early voting is underway in Florida, Trump is enjoying a lead by margins of between 1 percent and 7 percent.
According to the Florida Division of Elections, more than 4.5 million people have voted early either by mail-in ballot or at the polls.
More than 450,000 people have voted in Miami-Dade, 360,000 in Broward County and 158,944 in Palm Beach County.
In some swing states, Harris and Trump are virtually tied and Trump narrowing leads in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona.
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