Vice President Kamala Harris unpacked her immigration plan on Friday after visiting the southern border for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee. “I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing the border and creating a system of immigration that is secure, orderly and humane. We can and we must do both,” Harris said.Harris’ stop in Arizona, a key swing state, comes as polls show immigration remains one of her biggest weaknesses. One NBC News poll from earlier this month found voters prefer former President Donald Trump’s approach to border security by 21 points, a significant edge over Harris but a smaller advantage compared to earlier surveys when President Joe Biden was still in the race. If elected, Harris is pledging to expand legal pathways to citizenship while also tightening restrictions on the asylum system, building on the Biden-Harris administration’s current policy. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June that largely suspends the processing of asylum claims when U.S. officials deem the southern border is overwhelmed. Harris’ proposal would “make it harder to lift the emergency authority by requiring that the number of average border crossings be lower for longer before the shutdown can be lifted,” according to a fact sheet sent out by her campaign, which didn’t include a specific threshold. “To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry,” Harris said at her event on Friday. Government data shows U.S. Customs and Border Patrol made 58,038 arrests for illegal crossings on the Mexican border in the month of August, a slight increase from the month prior but well below the 117,905 enforcement encounters in May, before Biden’s emergency actions took effect, and December’s peak of 249,741 arrests. Increased enforcement from Mexican authorities also appears to be contributing to the decline. Ahead of Harris’ border visit on Friday, former President Donald Trump went on offense. He pointed to new data sent to lawmakers this week from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The letter said, as of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket. “Kamala is directly responsible for the tens of thousands of crimes committed by illegal migrants that she set free into our country,” Trump said. After this story was published, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying the data detailed in the letter “is being misinterpreted.””The data goes back decades; it includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this Administration. It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners,” the spokesperson wrote. In the original letter, ICE reported that most of the migrants on the list, which includes both convicted criminals and those with pending charges, were not detained. It said ICE’s non-detained docket included tens of thousands of noncitizens convicted of homicide and sex offenses, according to the letter. “Some jurisdictions have reduced their cooperation with ICE, to include refusal to honor ICE detainer requests, even for noncitizens who have been convicted of serious felonies and pose an ongoing threat to public safety,” the letter continued. “We are removing and returning record numbers of migrants who are unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, and prioritizing for removal those who present national security and public safety risks, and recent border crossers.”Trump has promised to take more drastic measures.“We will close the border. We will stop the invasion. We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan on Friday. Harris often highlights her previous work as California’s attorney general prosecuting transnational gangs. On Friday, she also said she would surge resources to federal law enforcement agencies to go after cartels in court and improve detection of deadly drugs like fentanyl at the border. Harris pledged to work across the aisle on immigration reform and criticized Trump for pressuring Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan border deal in Congress. “He prefers to run on the problem, instead of fixing the problem,” Harris said. On Friday, Trump called the legislation “a waste of paper.” The former president is expected to respond further at a campaign event Saturday focused on immigration.
Vice President Kamala Harris unpacked her immigration plan on Friday after visiting the southern border for the first time since becoming the Democratic nominee.
“I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing the border and creating a system of immigration that is secure, orderly and humane. We can and we must do both,” Harris said.
Advertisement
Harris’ stop in Arizona, a key swing state, comes as polls show immigration remains one of her biggest weaknesses.
One NBC News poll from earlier this month found voters prefer former President Donald Trump’s approach to border security by 21 points, a significant edge over Harris but a smaller advantage compared to earlier surveys when President Joe Biden was still in the race.
If elected, Harris is pledging to expand legal pathways to citizenship while also tightening restrictions on the asylum system, building on the Biden-Harris administration’s current policy.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June that largely suspends the processing of asylum claims when U.S. officials deem the southern border is overwhelmed. Harris’ proposal would “make it harder to lift the emergency authority by requiring that the number of average border crossings be lower for longer before the shutdown can be lifted,” according to a fact sheet sent out by her campaign, which didn’t include a specific threshold.
“To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry,” Harris said at her event on Friday.
Government data shows U.S. Customs and Border Patrol made 58,038 arrests for illegal crossings on the Mexican border in the month of August, a slight increase from the month prior but well below the 117,905 enforcement encounters in May, before Biden’s emergency actions took effect, and December’s peak of 249,741 arrests. Increased enforcement from Mexican authorities also appears to be contributing to the decline.
Ahead of Harris’ border visit on Friday, former President Donald Trump went on offense. He pointed to new data sent to lawmakers this week from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The letter said, as of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket.
“Kamala is directly responsible for the tens of thousands of crimes committed by illegal migrants that she set free into our country,” Trump said.
After this story was published, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying the data detailed in the letter “is being misinterpreted.”
“The data goes back decades; it includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this Administration. It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners,” the spokesperson wrote.
In the original letter, ICE reported that most of the migrants on the list, which includes both convicted criminals and those with pending charges, were not detained. It said ICE’s non-detained docket included tens of thousands of noncitizens convicted of homicide and sex offenses, according to the letter.
“Some jurisdictions have reduced their cooperation with ICE, to include refusal to honor ICE detainer requests, even for noncitizens who have been convicted of serious felonies and pose an ongoing threat to public safety,” the letter continued. “We are removing and returning record numbers of migrants who are unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, and prioritizing for removal those who present national security and public safety risks, and recent border crossers.”
Trump has promised to take more drastic measures.
“We will close the border. We will stop the invasion. We will begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan on Friday.
Harris often highlights her previous work as California’s attorney general prosecuting transnational gangs. On Friday, she also said she would surge resources to federal law enforcement agencies to go after cartels in court and improve detection of deadly drugs like fentanyl at the border.
Harris pledged to work across the aisle on immigration reform and criticized Trump for pressuring Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan border deal in Congress.
“He prefers to run on the problem, instead of fixing the problem,” Harris said.
On Friday, Trump called the legislation “a waste of paper.” The former president is expected to respond further at a campaign event Saturday focused on immigration.
