Kamala Harris highlighted it hard line against migration during long awaited trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Friday in an effort to bridge the political divide and refute Donald Trump’s central campaign message that Democrats are soft. immigration execution
“The United States is a sovereign nation, and I believe we have a responsibility to set and enforce rules at our border, and I take that responsibility very seriously,” Harris said Thursday after visiting the border in Douglas, Arizona.
His message reflects a broader turn on immigration that reflects a changing national mood, heralding a new landscape in which tougher border controls will be the focus of the coming years, regardless of which party wins. 2024 elections.
“The priorities should be to control the border. The numbers are very low right now, but you can’t guarantee it will stay that way. You also can’t be sure that the courts won’t ultimately overturn executive orders passed by the administration,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the party’s chief negotiator. basic border security package He told NBC News in an interview earlier this year. “I think that prioritizing border security has made it easier for us to get other reforms into law.”
Harris’ speech completes a turnaround in 2019, when he took a more left-leaning stance as a presidential candidate, including backing a call to make illegal border crossings a civil — not a criminal — offense and opposing Obama-era deportations.
On Friday, Harris highlighted a different side of himself: a tough prosecutor who takes on international gangs and organized crime as California’s top law enforcement agency.
“Border security is not a new issue for me. I have served two terms as attorney general of a border state. I have seen the violence and chaos caused by transnational criminal organizations and the heartache and loss of their illegal drug distribution. Harris said going after such gangs will be a priority if elected president. .
He also emphasized that the United States “has been enriched by generations of immigrants from all over the world who have come to contribute to our country and be part of the American story. That’s why we need to reform our immigration system to make it work. It’s orderly, humane, and makes our country stronger.” “
Harris’ immediate goal is to signal to moderate voters that he will be an aggressive enforcer of the law and keep immigration in check.
After fighting over the issue, Democrats finally found what they believe is a winning message: Remind voters that former President Trump has pressured Republicans kill the bipartisan bill it would impose stricter border controls and make it harder to get asylum.
Harris said that unlike Trump, he would embrace bipartisan solutions “because I know that transnational gangs, arms, drug and human trafficking across the border could care less about who someone voted for in the last election.”
Trump is still in the lead on border control, but less so
The GOP lead has narrowed since blocking the bill in May.
An NBC News poll in January showed Trump with a 35-point lead over President Joe Biden. NBC News survey this month, Trump led Harris by 21 points. The poll found a stark gender gap: Trump leads Harris on the border issue by 41 points among men, 52 points among white men and 13 points among non-white men.
“Republicans’ political advantage on the border issue has decreased because their position has been revealed. They don’t want to solve the problem, they just want to complain about the problem, and their failure to support a bipartisan border bill ultimately hurts them,” said Murphy, who discussed the bill with Sen. James Lankford. ., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.
“I’m proud that Democrats, led by the vice president, are finally talking about border security,” he said. “Americans care about this issue, and they want a party that doesn’t just talk about it, and the Democrats are the only party right now with a plan to fix the border. “The Republicans have no plan.”
Harris said he would bring the bill back and try to pass it if elected president.
“Not only will I not roll back the border security legislation that Donald Trump took away, but I will do more to secure our border to reduce illegal border crossings,” he said. “I will take additional measures to keep the border closed between ports of entry, those who cross our borders illegally will be apprehended and removed and banned from re-entry for five years.”
But Lankford said reviving this year’s border security deal was not that simple, and blamed Harris for not being on board.
“He also said he was working on it with Joe and the conservatives and was never in one of the talks,” Lankford said in an interview. “Four months of negotiations – he or his staff have never been involved in a single negotiation.”
“Now he wants to bring it up next year. Obviously, there are pieces that are expiring, like border wall money,” said Lankford, who is the top Republican on the Senate’s key border subcommittee. “You can take any bill and pass it another year, because that’s not how it works. I think he knows that. It’s a good talking point, but mechanically it’s not really true.”
A spokesman for the Harris campaign did not immediately comment on Lankford’s claim.
Key Democrat says the border comes first
The changing policy will affect immigration policy regardless of the outcome of the election. Trump promises mass deportations millions of people in the US illegally if elected. Harris suggests balancing tougher enforcement with creating new legal ways for people to become Americans.
Democratic hopes to grant permanent residency to millions of people in the United States illegally have been thwarted by several Democratic trifectas over the past decade and a half. Harris continues to seek pathways to legal status for at least some immigrants, but his campaign declined to say when asked whether he wants to normalize the status of all of the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the U.S. or a smaller population. young “dreamers” was brought to the country as a child.
Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, noted CHC members on this year’s border bill. on the right he saw that he was very generousNegotiations took place because Republicans were holding Ukraine’s funding “hostage”.
“There’s no way of knowing if the border bill is going to come back, is there? If he were to come back, I hope there would be a conversation with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus about this bill,” he said. “This is really a border bill. I don’t think this is an immigration bill. I would like to see more. “I would like to add paths to citizenship where there are real negotiations.”
But Murphy said the legalization component will have to take a backseat to enforcement in the near future.
“I certainly support a path to citizenship, but I think you have to show the American first that you’re committed to a rules-based immigration system,” Murphy said. “And it will make it easier for people living in the shadow of the economy to find a way out.”