Harris journeys towards the American southern border, aiming to bridge a voting margin with Trump
Election talks in 2024 have emphasized immigration, with surveys indicating a higher trust in Trump handling this issue compared to Harris.
Democrats, looking back at years of border commotion, have been attempting to regain ground through highlighting a border policy bill that Republican Congress blocked earlier this year following Trump's opposition.
Advisors to Harris express worries concerning the immigration divide between candidates but also take note of polls showing Trump's edge on the issue diminishing since Harris filled Biden's spot as the Democratic frontrunner – offering them an opportunity, as they believe, to amplify their stance and narrow the gap further.
Trump capitalized on his current lead in polls during a press briefing, criticizing Harris for her visit to the border.
“Why would she travel to the border now, helping her competitor's case?” questioned Trump at Trump Tower in New York. “She keeps speaking about supposedly wanting to fix the border. May we inquire: 'Why didn't you do it four years back?'”
Part of Harris' strategy to challenge Trump includes a new advertisement called “Never Backed Down” which will air in Arizona and other battleground states, emphasizing Harris' border-related achievements and outlining her aims, such as recruiting extra border agents.
“She apprehended cartel members and drug smugglers and is determined to safeguard our border,” the voiceover communicates.
Harris intends to use her border trip to attack Trump for sabotaging the bipartisan border legislature and rely on her work as California's attorney general, a border state, according to a campaign aide.
“The American people are entitled to a president who prioritizes border security over partisan games,” Harris is predicted to state, as per an excerpt of her speech.
An initial plan
Early in the Harris campaign, it became clear that they intended to counter Trump's criticisms of the vice president and the administration's border security management. Just a few days after her presidential campaign launch, her team published a video highlighting the distinction between Harris and Trump on immigration policy – with an emphasis on border security.
“Kamala Harris supports expanding the Border Patrol agent rank. Trump blocked a bill to raise the number of Border Patrol agents,” the video narration claimed.
Harris has visited the border as vice president and has brought up her work as a border-state senator and state attorney general.
Harris' journey to the border takes place when border entries are at their lowest level since 2020 – following the release of a recent New York Times/Siena College poll indicating Trump's victory in the battleground state.
U.S. officials have spoken proudly of the back-to-back months of low border entries, attributing it to recent executive action limiting asylum applications at the Southern border, despite Trump's continued attacks on the Biden administration's border security handling.
This recent drop in border entries has given the Biden administration a respite from confronting record entries due to widespread migration across the Western hemisphere.
Over this period, Republicans have incorrectly labeled Harris as the “border czar,” positioning her as the only individual managing the US-Mexico border. It's a title that members of Harris' team have been striving to shake off since the moment Biden assigned her to tackle the roots of migration in 2021.
Harris rarely discusses her assignement, but insiders report early success in Central America due to considerable private-sector investment. She has usually associated this with the Biden administration's overall migration issues.
Harris campaign officials believe she possesses a compelling immigration case: utilizing the failed bipartisan border measure to brand Trump as uncommitted at the border and pointing to her record as California attorney general in countering transnational criminal gangs.
Campaign allies have also emphasized the importance of addressing broader immigration reform, leaning on Harris' Senate and California background in addressing immigrant issues.
“Her going is good. It helps spread her message. Obviously, her primary focus is the border, but we must also discuss the broader system,” stated a source close to the campaign to CNN.
According to a campaign aide, Harris plans to "reject the false choice between securing the border and creating an immigration system that is safe, orderly, and compassionate – arguing that we must do both to protect our nation's security and enduring legacy as a nation of immigrants."
Last week, Harris lambasted Trump over his immigration proposals, exploiting his controversial policies, such as his proposal for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, to construct a shadowy portrayal of her Republican rival.
“While we advocate for advancing our nation towards a brighter future, Trump and his extremist allies will persist in pulling us backwards. We all recall the damage they did in tearing families apart, and now they have vowed to carry out the biggest deportation, a mass deportation in American history,” she stated at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute leadership conference in Washington.
“Picture what that would entail and what that would be. How's that going to happen? Raid after raid, mass detention centers. What are they referring to?” she questioned.
CNN's Kit Maher contributed to this report.
In light of the closing gap in polls on the immigration issue, advisors to Vice President Harris are seeking opportunities to amplify their stance and narrow the gap further against former President Trump. Despite Trump's criticism of Harris for not addressing the border issue four years ago, she plans to use her border trip to attack Trump for sabotaging bipartisan border legislation and relying on her record as California's attorney general as a border state.
