Dem Gov. Grisham on if Harris Should Moderate from Decriminalizing Border Crossing: She’s Backed What We Need

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) responded to a question on whether 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris should moderate her border positions from where they were when she ran for president in 2020 and supported decriminalizing crossing the border without documentation by saying, “I don’t want any more political labels and I don’t want any more politicking about the border.” And “I don’t want anyone anywhere politically except pass comprehensive immigration reform. This is a candidate who believes in that, who stood up for that.”

Host Jake Tapper asked, “Just yesterday, you called on the Biden administration to do more when it comes to border resources and agents. When Vice President Harris was running for president in 2019 as a senator, she said she thought crossing the border without documentation should be a civil offense, and it should be decriminalized. Do you want her to tack more to the center on these border issues than where she was when she was running for president in 2019?”

Grisham responded, “Honestly, Jake, as a border state governor and someone who understands these issues and these pressures and frustrations, I don’t want any more political labels and I don’t want any more politicking about the border. We know that we have people who are desperate to seek asylum and refugee status. We need a fair, safe process for doing that. You need to be able to get visas upfront. We need more economic opportunity for the countries that create, in the Triangle, this kind of mass migration. But we also need security at the border. You’ve got to use new technology and tools, we don’t invest in border agents or ICE. We’re not smart about our ports of entry. We’ve just sort of languished in this political design. And it is, for me, despicable that the former president and Republicans continue to politicize this and weaponize these issues at the border. It harms our commercial activity, our economic activity, our public safety, our ability to work across the border with Mexico to make sure we’re all safer. I’m sure you saw two huge arrests related to the cartel happened actually in New Mexico in the El Paso sector. So, I don’t want anyone anywhere politically except pass comprehensive immigration reform. This is a candidate who believes in that, who stood up for that. In the meantime, the Biden-Harris administration [has] provided relief to states like New Mexico by getting agents where we need them most.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett