During an interview with the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” on Wednesday, 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris responded to a question on whether it was wrong to end the Remain in Mexico policy at the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration by stating that “our focus has been on fixing a problem, and from day one, then, we have done a number of things,” including putting forward legislation on the border.
Host Bret Baier asked, “How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three-and-a-half years?”
Harris responded, “Well, I’m glad you raised the issue of immigration, because I agree with you, it is a topic of discussion that people want to, rightly, have. And you know what I’m going to talk about now, which is –.”
Baier then cut in to say he wants a number.
Harris responded, “Bret, let’s just get to the point, okay? The point is, that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.”
Baier then cut in to state that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas gave an approximate estimate of 6 million people.
Baier then asked, “[W]hen you came into office, your administration immediately reversed a number of Trump border policies. Most significantly, the policy that required illegal immigrants to be detained through deportation, either in the U.S. or in Mexico, and you switched that policy. They were released from custody awaiting trial. So, instead — included in those were a large number of single men, adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes. So, looking back, do you regret the decision to terminate Remain in Mexico at the beginning of your administration?”
Harris responded, “At the beginning of our administration, within practically hours of taking the oath, the first bill that we offered Congress…was a bill to fix our immigration system.”
After a lengthy period of crosstalk between Harris and Baier, Harris added, “We recognized, from day one, that, to the point of this being your first question, it is a priority for us as a nation and for the American people, and our focus has been on fixing a problem, and from day one, then, we have done a number of things, including to address our asylum system and put more resources, getting more judges, what we needed to do to tighten up penalties and increase penalties for illegal crossings, what we needed to do to deal with points of entry between border entry points. That’s the work we did and we worked on supporting what was a bipartisan effort, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, to actually strengthen the border. That border bill would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border, which is why I believe the Border Patrol agents supported the bill.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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