Kamala Harris' tough-on-migration pitch at the border points to a shifting national mood
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Sept. 28, 2024, 2:03 AM By Sahil Kapur
Kamala Harris highlighted her tough-on-migration stance during a long-anticipated trip Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, aiming to cover off a political vulnerability and rebut Donald Trump's core campaign message that Democrats are soft on immigration enforcement.
"The United States is a sovereign nation, and I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border and to enforce them, and I take that responsibility very seriously," Harris said in Douglas, Arizona, Friday evening after visiting the border.
Her message reflects a broader turn on immigration that reflects a changing national mood, foreshadowing a new landscape in the coming years where imposing tougher border controls will likely be the focal point regardless of which party wins the 2024 elections.
"The priorities have to be getting the border under control. The numbers are very low right now, but you can't guarantee that that will remain the case. You also can't be assured that the courts won't ultimately strike down the executive orders that the administration has taken," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the party's chief negotiator on a major border security package earlier this year, told NBC News in an interview. "I think our ability to get other reforms into law is made easier by putting a priority on border security."
Harris' pitch completes a turnaround from 2019, when she took more left-leaning positions as a presidential candidate including by backing a call to reduce illegal border crossings to a civil — not criminal — violation and by objecting to Obama-era deportations.
On Friday, Harris highlighted a different side of herself: the tough prosecutor who took on international gangs and organized crime as the top law enforcement officer of California.
"The issue of border security is not a new issue to me. I was attorney general of a border state for two terms. I saw the violence and chaos that transnational criminal organizations cause and the heartbreak and loss from the spread of their illicit drugs," Harris said, adding that going after such gangs would be a priority if she is elected president.
She also emphasized that the U.S. "has been enriched by generations of people who have come from every corner of the world to contribute to our country and to become part of the American story. And so we must reform our immigration system to ensure that it works in an orderly way, that it is humane and that makes our country stronger."
Harris' immediate goal is to signal to moderate voters that she will be an aggressive enforcer of the law and keep migration in check.
After struggling on the issue, Democrats have finally found what they believe is a winning message: Reminding voters that former President Trump pressured Republicans to kill a bipartisan bill that would impose tougher border controls and make it harder to get asylum.
Harris said that, unlike Trump, she would embrace bipartisan solutions "because I know, transnational gangs coming across the border, trafficking in guns, drugs and human beings could care less who somebody voted for in the last election."
Trump still leads on handling border — but by less
The GOP advantage has narrowed since it blocked the bill in May.
In January, NBC News polling found that Trump held a 35-point advantage over President Joe Biden among voters asked who they trust more on "securing the border and controlling immigration," In a new NBC News poll this month, Trump led Harris by 21 points. The poll found a stark gender divide: Trump led Harris on the border question by 41 points among men, by 52 points among white men and by 13 points among non-white men.
"The Republican political advantage on the issue of the border has shrunk because their position has been exposed. They don't want to solve the problem, they just want to complain about the problem, and their failure to support the bipartisan border bill is ultimately hurting them," said Murphy, who negotiated the bill with Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., 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's going to do something about it, not just talk about it, and Democrats right now are the only party that have a plan to fix the border. Republicans don't have a plan."
Harris has said she would bring back that bill and push to pass it if she's elected president.
"I won't only bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump tanked, I will do more to secure our border to reduce illegal border crossings," she said Friday. "I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry, those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed and barred from reentering for five years."
But Lankford said that reviving this year's border security deal s not so simple and accused Harris of being absent on the issue.
"She also said that she and Joe worked on it together with conservatives, and she was never in a single one of the negotiations," Lankford said in an interview. "Four months of negotiations — she or her staff were never in a single negotiation."
"Now she wants to bring it up next year. Obviously, there are parts that expire, like the border wall money," said Lankford, the top Republican on a key Senate border subcommittee. "No bill you can just pick up and just move to another year, because it just doesn't work that way. I think she knows that. It's a good talking point, but mechanically, that's not actually true."
Harris campaign spokespeople didn't immediately comment on Lankford's assertion.
Key Democrat says border comes first
The changing politics will impact immigration policy regardless of the outcome of the election. Trump is promising mass deportations of millions of people in the U.S. illegally if he's elected. Harris is proposing to balance tougher enforcement with creating new legal pathways for people to become Americans.
Democratic hopes of granting permanent residency to the millions of people in the U.S. illegally have all but faded, after failing under several Democratic trifectas over the last decade and a half. Harris continues to call for pathways to legal status for at least some immigrants, but her campaign declined to say when asked if she wants to normalize the status of all the estimated 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., or a smaller population like young "Dreamers" brought to the country as children.
Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, noted that this year's border bill, which members of the CHC saw as far too generous to the right, was negotiated because Republicans were holding Ukraine funding "hostage."
"There's no way to know if the border bill is going to come back, right? If it were to come back, I hope that there's going to be a conversation with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on that bill," she said, arguing that it could use revision. "That's really a border bill. It's not, in my opinion, an immigration bill. I would like to see more. I would like to see pathways to citizenship added in there where there's real negotiation."
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've got to probably first show the American that you're committed to a rules-based immigration system," Murphy said. "And that will make it easier to find a pathway for folks who are living in the shadows of the economy."
Sahil Kapur
Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.
Nnamdi Egwuonwu contributed.
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As soon as Trump is defeated Congress will pass and President Harris will sign the long needed immigration reform bill negociated by Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. This will provid the manpower and resources needed to address long needed reforms. We would already be half way there if Trump hadn't squashed reform!
Isn’t Schumer in charge of the Senate? How did Trump kill a senate bill if democrats are the majority?
"Kamala Harris highlighted her tough-on-migration stance during a long-anticipated trip Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona,"
"After struggling on the issue, Democrats have finally found what they believe is a winning message: Reminding voters that former President Trump pressured Republicans to kill a bipartisan bill that would impose tougher border controls and make it harder to get asylum."
Everyone and I mean everyone with a brain knows exactly who is responsible for the border situation. The so-called bipartisan bill would not make a bit of difference if the democrats won't enforce it. Biden and Harris have had 4 years to get a handle on the border situation and they have chosen not to.
But Greg - Joey, Cackles and their mafia had to add the many billions of dollars for Ukraine and the Middle East to the immigration bill to show they support foreigners much more than they support the U.S.
“…changing national mood…”
I think your Beats are too tight.
Friggin' hilarious - "I won't only bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump tanked" - and 'member Cackles, that Joey, you and his mafia were PUSHING for Billions of dollars to be added to the "bill" for the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. That's why Trump "tanked" it.
And, Cackles, we believe you worked so hard at not showing up or offering any assistance. Just ask the Chair "But Lankford said that reviving this year's border security deal s not so simple and accused Harris of being absent on the issue.
"She also said that she and Joe worked on it together with conservatives, and she was never in a single one of the negotiations," Lankford said in an interview. "Four months of negotiations — she or her staff were never in a single negotiation."
I mean, of course all of us down here in the SW knows damn well you never made it to the border 3 years ago as your "Daddy", little Joe, told you to do as the new Czar of border control.
Typical Dem/Lib BS just keeps-on-rollin' on.
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Can't refute the comment so go after the poster.
Typical
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Biden and His border czar intentionally created Open borders for 3 1/2 yearss, flooding the country with illegals and “asylum seekers” gaming the system. As i, and everyone else with a brain predicted the entire time, they tighten up the border in the months leading up to the election so she can campaign on border security. The day after the election, the border will back to being wide open.
Did you see Trump's ridiculous remarks with Zelensky standing at his side yesterday? Zelensky looked disgusted but of course has to hold his tongue. Trump embarrasses the shit out of our country every single time he opens his mouth.
What a fucking asshole traitor - saying he agrees with putin. Fucking traitor scum.