(DailyVantage.com) – Vice President Kamala Harris made her first visit to the southern border since being nominated for president, giving a speech in Douglas, Arizona. She promised to take strong action against illegal immigration while criticizing former President Trump for what she called a failure to fix the border problem.
Harris spoke to a cheering crowd at Cochise County College, only two miles from the border. She stated that people who cross the border illegally will be arrested, deported, and barred from returning for five years. She also emphasized that asylum seekers must go through legal entry points, or they’ll lose their chance for asylum. Harris explained that while many people are desperate to come to the U.S., the immigration system must be “orderly and secure.”
During her speech, Harris slammed Trump for blocking a border security bill that she claims would have brought results. She promised to reintroduce the bill if elected and pledged to work with both Republicans and Democrats on practical solutions. Harris stressed that securing the border and creating a humane immigration system are not mutually exclusive.
A key issue in Harris’s speech was the fight against fentanyl. She vowed to increase resources for law enforcement at the border, adding more officers, better training, and advanced technology to stop the smuggling of fentanyl, which she said was a major problem. Harris was introduced by Theresa Guerrero, whose son died from fentanyl poisoning. Harris promised to equip ports of entry with high-tech tools to catch the drug and boost resources for prosecuting cartels.
Harris also took a swipe at Trump, accusing him of making the immigration system worse by separating families and failing to provide real solutions. She pledged to find a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, whom she said are “American in every way.”
The backdrop to Harris’s speech is the surge of illegal immigrants at the border under the Biden administration. Critics, including Trump and the Border Patrol union, have slammed her handling of the crisis, calling her trip to the border “too little, too late.”
Copyright 2024, DailyVantage.com
