Vice President Kamala Harris has issued a bold challenge, stating that she is willing to put her record on immigration up against that of former President Donald Trump. However, a closer examination of her past stances and actions reveals a stark contrast between her rhetoric and reality.
As a senator, Harris was a vocal opponent of Trump’s border security measures, including efforts to increase funding for Border Patrol agents and migrant detention beds. She also sought to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and redirect those funds to non-profit organizations that promote illegal immigration.
During her presidential campaign, Harris took an even more radical stance, advocating for the decriminalization of illegal border crossings and extending free healthcare to undocumented immigrants. These positions were even more extreme than those of her running mate, Joe Biden.
As vice president, Harris has continued to push for lax border security policies, including the termination of Trump’s Remain in Mexico program, which allowed asylum-seekers to enter the country without waiting for their cases to be adjudicated. The Biden-Harris administration has also significantly reduced the number of interior deportations, from 267,258 in Trump’s final year to just 72,177 in Biden’s first full year in office.
The consequences of these policies have been severe, with Southwest border apprehensions skyrocketing from fewer than 75,000 in the month before Harris took office to over 100,000 the month after, and eventually reaching more than 300,000 in December 2023. The total number of illegal immigrants in the country has surged by almost 4 million under Harris’s watch, placing a significant strain on communities across the country.
Despite the chaos at the border, Harris has refused to engage with the issue, even going so far as to mock the suggestion that she visit the southern border. Her campaign’s claims that she is a champion of border security are belied by her past actions and the devastating consequences of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies.
Harris’s attempt to rebrand herself as a border hawk is unconvincing, particularly given her past support for legislation that would have codified catch-and-release policies and created a pathway to amnesty for undocumented immigrants. The Biden-Harris record on border security is one of failure, and Harris’s efforts to distance herself from it will likely fall flat.
