Harris Visits Border, Promises Tougher Control

Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

DOUGLAS, AZ (REUTERS) – Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris visited the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time in her 2024 presidential campaign on September 27, calling for tighter asylum restrictions and vowing to make stopping fentanyl from entering the U.S. a “top priority.”Harris outlined her plans to fix “our broken immigration system” at this border town of fewer than 17,000 people, while accusing her Republican rival Donald Trump of “fanning the flames of fear and division” over the impact of immigrants on American life.Some 7 million migrants have been arrested crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally during President Joe Biden’s administration, according to government data, a record high number.Immigration is a top issue for voters. Arizona is a closely contested election state, with a high population of Latino voters sought by both parties. The nation’s porous southern border remains a source of fentanyl, a leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States.Harris called for more punitive measures for people crossing the border illegally, following an asylum ban for those entering illegally, a move Biden took this year that has sharply reduced illegal crossings.”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 re-entering for five years,” Harris said.”We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators, and if someone does not make an asylum request at a legal point of entry and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum,” she said.Harris emphasized her goal of a “humane” immigration program, saying she would with Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers” – hundreds of thousands of people brought into the U.S. illegally as children. They were a priority for Democrats for a decade but were left out of a failed immigration bill that Biden had backed.”I reject the false choice that suggests we must either choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly and humane,” Harris said. “We can and we must do both.”In Douglas, Harris spoke to Customs and Border Protection officials and viewed part of a border barrier built between 2011 and 2012 during the administration of Democrat Barack Obama, the White House said.She also received a briefing on the CBP’s drug enforcement operations and viewed inspection technology used to seize illegal drugs, including fentanyl, the campaign said, noting that border officials stopped more fentanyl at ports of entry in 2022 and 2023 than in the previous five fiscal years combined.Harris was introduced by Theresa Guerrero, whose 31-year-old son Jacob Guerrero died from fentanyl poisoning. She accused Trump of blocking the bipartisan border security bill aimed at stemming the flow of fentanyl. The bill was blocked by the Senate in February, after Trump pressed Republicans to reject any compromise.Biden and Harris accuse Trump of killing the measure to keep immigration alive as a campaign issue.Harris said she would revive the legislation, which would add 1,500 Border Patrol agents and other personnel, 4,300 asylum officers, 100 immigration judges and new drug detection technology.The vice president said she would target the “entire global fentanyl supply chain.” She said China was starting to crack down on fentanyl precursor chemicals but needed to do more.Fentanyl overdoses have surged to become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Over 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023.