Las Vegas— Vice President Kamala Harris answered questions about immigration, the economy and health care during a town hall with Univision on Thursday. Polls suggest that these questions are crucial for the Latin American voting bloc, and many of these questions were asked by people who had very personal and emotional stories to tell.
He supports ‘Dreamers’ and blames Trump for bipartisan border bill
Jesus Aispuro, a new voter from California, told Harris he has friends who are “Dreamers,” undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. Pressed on what she would do to protect Dreamers under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Harris said she would prioritize an immigration plan that establishes a path to citizenship.
In response to a case brought before a federal appeals court On the fate of DACA, Harris’ campaign released a statement during the town hall saying Harris “will always stand with dreamers and keep families together” and urged Congress to enact “an earned path to citizenship for these young people.
Yvette Castillo began her question by pointing out that she and Harris have something in common: both of their mothers are dead. Castillo noted that his mother had died six weeks ago and, during her lifetime, had failed to acquire U.S. citizenship. Harris’ mother died in 2009.
“What are your plans to support this subgroup of immigrants who have lived here their entire lives and must live and die in the shadows?” » asked Castillo.
Harris repeatedly said she was sorry for Castillo’s loss, then said the bipartisan border bill that former President Donald Trump lobbied Republican lawmakers against could have created “a full path to citizenship for hard workers.”
She went on to say that this failure to enact legislation was responsible for the outcome Castillo’s mother got.
“If your mother could have obtained citizenship, she would have been entitled to health care that could have alleviated her suffering and yours. And this is an example of the fact that there are real people who suffer because of their disability to propose solutions in front of politics,” added Harris.
The Latino vote is crucial to Harris’ path to the White House, and polls show it’s a more competitive fight than in 2020. Harris holds an 18-point advantage over former President Donald Trump , according to a September CBS News poll. That’s a smaller gap compared to President Joe Biden’s 33-point advantage among Latino voters in a 2020 CBS News exit poll.
“The largest segment of undecided voters right now is still within the Latino community. So having town halls like this, that’s going to happen in places like Arizona… having people like the rest of us in this state will be very important,’” Rep. Robert Garcia of California said after the debate.
“Latinos are going to have outsized influence in this election because the margins are very tight,” he added.
Criticizes Trump over reports he sent Putin COVID tests, but can’t list three virtues about him
Mario Sigbaum, an independent and undecided 70-year-old electorquestioned how Harris could have become the Democratic nominee and said that the late change resulting from Late exit of President Biden of the race “made me vote for Trump.”
After Harris praised Mr. Biden for supporting her candidacy, she highlighted her own support from Republicans and argued that Trump admired “dictators and autocracy.” She criticized Trump for reports that he sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a COVID testing machine during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I’m sure people here have deceased family members or friends [from COVID]and he secretly shipped COVID tests to Russia’s Vladimir Putin. When people were dying, hundreds of people were dying every day,” Harris said, adding that she and Mr. Biden had tried to address the disproportionate rate of Latinos and Black Americans dying from COVID infections.
“So I present this to you, sir, to tell you that this is an extraordinary moment,” she said.
When asked by a voter at the end if she could name three of Trump’s virtues, Harris emphasized his love for his family, but declined to add more.
“Family is one of the most important things we can prioritize. But to be honest with you, I don’t really know him. I’ve only met him once on the debate stage. So, I don’t really have much more to offer you,” she said.
Response to Hurricane Milton
The town hall began with Ramiro Gonzalez, a constituent in Tampa, Florida, who noted that more than one hurricane had hit his home.
“Rumors say your administration has not done enough to address the last hurricane. What specifically would you do, or what would your administration do, to help us in the Tampa Bay area or the Central Florida area with this hurricane?’ he asked Harris.
Harris responded by calling out widespread misinformation about the federal response to recent hurricanes. “I have to emphasize that this is not the time for people to get involved in politics,” she said. She then listed her briefings and ongoing contacts with national and local authorities on the ground, and warned against companies raising prices in affected areas.
Economy and health: “Prices are still too high… and we must face it. »
Asked by Wendy Solares – a mother who shelters her children as well as her parents – about what Harris would do to help the middle class, Harris struck a more sympathetic tone in the face of the rising cost of living.
“I know prices are still too high. You know prices are still too high. And we have to deal with it,” she said, before outlining her economic plan to cut costs by being more aggressive against price gouging by food companies. and providing parent tax credits and down payment assistance for first-time home buyers.
Martha Rodriguez, a 62-year-old homeless woman whose health problems — a heart attack and “long COVID” — caused her to lose her job and income, asked Harris how she would help disabled citizens get their insurance more quickly thanks to social security.
Harris noted that she had pushed to designate long COVID as a condition that should be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that as president she would work to ensure that medical debt does not does not affect credit scores.
“The point is very simple, frankly, is that all people, regardless of disability, should have equal access to housing, employment opportunities, education and, again, community , and we still have a lot of work to do in that regard,” Harris responded.
