Vice President Kamala Harris, aiming to turn immigration from a political liability into a strength, visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Friday. With immigration a major focus of the 2024 presidential election, Harris is looking to shift the narrative around her handling of border security as she continues her campaign against former President Donald Trump. According to campaign aides, this visit signals her strategy to directly counter Trump's lead on the issue in key battleground states.
Polls have consistently shown that voters trust Trump more than Harris to manage immigration. However, recent data suggests Trump's lead on this issue is eroding since Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, and her campaign sees this as an opportunity to further narrow the gap.
During her visit, Harris addressed the nation's border security challenges while criticizing Trump for undermining a bipartisan border deal earlier this year. "The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games," Harris said, referencing Trump's opposition to the bipartisan bill. The vice president highlighted her work as California's attorney general, where she focused on tackling transnational criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal weapons smuggling.
Her stop in Douglas, Arizona, one of the most visible areas for cross-border migration, underscores her attempt to reposition herself as tougher on immigration than Trump has portrayed her. Harris's campaign is doubling down on ads like "Never Backed Down," which emphasize her law enforcement credentials and her border security plan, including the hiring of additional border patrol agents. "She put cartel members and drug traffickers behind bars, and she will secure our border," says the narrator in the ad.
Trump, speaking from New York City ahead of Harris' visit, continued to criticize her. "Why didn't she fix the border four years ago?" he asked. Trump has consistently claimed that the Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of people to cross the border illegally, a point he reiterated just days before Harris's border visit. He also questioned why Harris was making the visit now, calling it a "political ploy" aimed at salvaging her campaign in the face of Republican attacks on border security.
Harris has frequently been accused by Republicans of being weak on border security, a vulnerability Trump has spotlighted throughout his campaign. GOP critics have derided her as the "border czar," despite her role being focused more on addressing the root causes of migration from Central America rather than directly managing the southern border.
While immigration has been a thorny issue for Democrats, Harris's team hopes to flip the script by contrasting her policy approach with Trump's rhetoric. Harris is expected to reiterate that Trump blocked a bipartisan measure that could have strengthened border security, arguing that his opposition was politically motivated. "He thought it would help him win an election, but we're focused on real solutions," she told reporters.
Border crossings, a critical flashpoint in the immigration debate, have seen a marked decline in recent months, giving Harris's campaign some breathing room. According to U.S. officials, border crossings are at their lowest since 2020, following executive orders designed to curb asylum access at the southern border. Harris's campaign has pointed to this drop as evidence that the administration's policies are working.
Harris has also worked to dispel the notion that border security and a humane immigration system are mutually exclusive. "We must secure our border and maintain our country's legacy as a nation of immigrants," she said during an interview with MSNBC. Her broader immigration reform plan, which includes a pathway to citizenship for certain migrants, is intended to strike a balance between enforcement and humane treatment of migrants.
The campaign is also trying to elevate Harris's record as a former "border-state prosecutor" to strengthen her case on immigration. Having worked in California, she frequently handled cases related to border security, drug cartels, and gang violence, a history her team believes provides her with credibility on the issue.
In contrast, Trump's hardline stance on immigration includes proposals for mass deportations and the use of the military and police to enforce border security. Trump has sought to paint Harris's policies as inadequate, framing the immigration debate in stark terms. "When she talks about border security, her credibility is less than zero," Trump said during a recent campaign stop in North Carolina.
As the 2024 race intensifies, immigration remains a defining issue. Polls suggest that while Trump retains an edge on this front, Harris is gaining traction, particularly among moderate voters who are looking for a more balanced approach to immigration reform. Her visit to the border, combined with her tougher rhetoric on border security, is an effort to reshape the narrative and appeal to voters who see immigration as a critical issue in the upcoming election.
Harris's Arizona visit also comes at a time when she is navigating a tight race with Trump in key battleground states. A recent Fox News poll showed Trump narrowly leading Harris in Arizona, with 50% of likely voters supporting the former president and 47% backing the vice president. With immigration ranking as one of the top issues for voters, how each candidate addresses the crisis at the southern border could be pivotal in determining the outcome of the 2024 election.
