Kamala Harris headed to the southern border Friday as she seeks to burnish a tougher image on border security and immigration.
The Democratic presidential candidate will hold an event in Douglas, Ariz., to tout her policies aimed at limiting illegal crossings and narrowing the gap with former President Trump among voters on perceptions of the handling of the border.
She will call for more resources for Border Patrol agents and stronger enforcement to stop the trafficking of drugs like fentanyl, a Harris campaign official told reporters in a preview of the event.
“American sovereignty requires establishing rules at the border and enforcing them,” the official said. “(Harris) will reject the false choice between securing the border and creating a safe, orderly and humane immigration system – arguing that we must do both to protect our country’s security and its lasting legacy as a nation of immigrants .”
Harris plans to criticize Trump as she has for months for his decision to torpedo a border security compromise with conservative Republicans because the Republican nominee suspected the deal could hurt his campaign.
“The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games,” Harris plans to say, according to her campaign.
Trump counters by calling Harris a failed so-called “border czar” because she was tasked by Biden with improving conditions in the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America.
The former president says Harris and Biden bear responsibility for the millions of migrants and asylum seekers who entered the United States on their watch.
Harris trumpets President Biden’s executive actions after a failed deal with Congress to significantly reduce the number of migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.
Monthly border crossings are now at low levels, similar to those in the final months of the Trump administration in 2020, a tepid political success that has blunted a key political advantage for Trump and his Republican allies.
Harris wants to convince voters that choosing between strict border security or a humane immigration policy is a “false choice.” She hopes to strike a deal that could open a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the United States, as well as new rules allowing others to come legally instead of just crossing the border.
The Harris campaign also unveiled a new ad Friday that will air in Arizona and other battleground states. In the 30-second spot titled “Never Back Down,” the narrator describes parts of the border agreement.
“It will secure our border. This is his plan: hire thousands more border agents, enforce the law, boost technology, and end fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking,” says a narrator in the ad. “We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border and that’s Kamala Harris.”
