Vice President Kamala Harris visits the U.S.-Mexico border, marking her first trip as the Democratic presidential nominee. During this visit, she plans to advocate for stricter regulations on asylum claims, according to campaign officials.
Kamala Harris has made her first visit to the border since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee and only the second since taking office in 2021. She is set to propose new, tighter rules for asylum claims, building upon previous executive actions by President Biden that permit the suspension of asylum claims when certain thresholds are met. This initiative aims to make it more challenging to lift these restrictions until a significant decrease in numbers is achieved. The border has become a contentious issue for Harris, and this visit presents an opportunity for her to alter the narrative surrounding her handling of border policies.
Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have labeled Harris’s visit as merely a publicity stunt, criticizing her both for previously neglecting the border and for her current efforts, asserting that she has been ineffective in addressing border concerns. Trump claimed that Harris’s visit plays into his political strategy, emphasizing that she has not sufficiently addressed safety issues in border communities.
Despite frequent GOP attacks regarding border crossings, recent data shows a decline in these numbers to near-record lows.
In response to the criticism, Harris’s campaign has flipped the narrative, asserting that it is Republicans who are politicizing the border issue. She has highlighted the bipartisan border security deal thwarted by Congress earlier this year at the urging of Trump, arguing that Republicans are more interested in using the border as a tool in their political strategy than in seeking genuine solutions.
Harris has proposed specific solutions aimed at bolstering border security. These include support for the bipartisan border security bill, which seeks to enhance resources at the border and raise the thresholds for asylum-seekers. Additionally, she is expected to emphasize the administration’s investment of approximately $200 billion through the Infrastructure Act, which is focusing on improvements at nearby ports of entry. Furthermore, she has advocated for increased technological measures at the border, particularly for detecting fentanyl, which often passes through these entry points.
