During an interview with CNN on Thursday, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on why the Biden-Harris administration waited three-and-a-half years to implement the asylum restrictions they recently implemented by touting her work on the root causes of migration and then referencing the Senate border bill that also didn’t come about until several years into the Biden-Harris administration.
CNN host and Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash asked, “Another issue, big one, is immigration. As Vice President, you were tasked with addressing the root causes of migration in…the northern part of Central America, that deals with — that affects the southern border of the U.S. During the Biden-Harris administration, there were record numbers of illegal border crossings. Why did the Biden-Harris administration wait three-and-a-half years to implement sweeping asylum restrictions?”
Harris responded “Well, first of all, the root causes work that I did as Vice President that I was asked to do by the president has actually resulted in a number of benefits, including historic investments by American businesses in that region. The number of immigrants coming from that region has actually reduced since we began that work.”
Harris continued, “But I will say this: That Joe Biden and I and our administration worked with members of the United States Congress on an immigration issue that is very significant to the American people and to our security, which is the border, and through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support. And Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border, and because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, don’t put it forward. He killed the bill, a border security bill that would have put 1,500 more agents on the border. And let me tell you something, the Border Patrol endorsed the bill. And I’m sure, in large part, because they knew they were working around the clock, and 1,500 more agents would help them. That bill would have allowed us to increase seizures of fentanyl. Ask any community in America that has been devastated by fentanyl what passing that bill would have done to address their concern and the pain that they have experienced.”
Bash then asked if Harris still believes in decriminalizing the border like she did when she ran for president in 2020. Harris answered, “I believe there should be consequence[s]. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequence[s].”
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