Harris Advisory Board Member: We 'Want to Unleash Nationally' What We Did in California on Immigration

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “José Díaz-Balart Reports,” Harris Campaign Advisory Board Member Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) stated that California “knows the value of our diversity, including our immigrant population, its contribution to the strength of our state and our economy. And we want to unleash nationally what we’ve been able to unleash here in the state of California.” And 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris is “the first to remind us we need to be thoughtful, we need to be humane, we need to be smart, and we cannot leave the millions of DREAMers and farmworkers and so many other essential workers that we depend on out of this conversation.”

Host José Díaz-Balart asked, “What is it that your message is to the people that you represent and that you work so hard for, and I’m talking about DACA recipients and I’m talking about the millions of people who [live] in mixed immigration status households that don’t hear themselves reflected in any conversation, when, for example, the main focus is that border bill?”

Padilla answered, “I have the honor, as you know, José, to represent the 40 million people of California. And I say everybody, because California, more than any other state, knows the value of our diversity, including our immigrant population, its contribution to the strength of our state and our economy. And we want to unleash nationally what we’ve been able to unleash here in the state of California. Californians and a lot of Californian activists and advocates know Kamala Harris for her talk about the borders, to address that question for the people who still may be wondering, but she’s the first to remind us we need to be thoughtful, we need to be humane, we need to be smart, and we cannot leave the millions of DREAMers and farmworkers and so many other essential workers that we depend on out of this conversation. The organizations and organizers in California know it, we’ve been deploying throughout the country to talk to our counterparts [about] why it’s important to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States and restore Democratic majorities in both houses [of] Congress so we can finally move on with a thoughtful, smart modernization of our immigration system.”

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