As the 2024 presidential election approaches, voters repeatedly cite immigration and border security as top issues, but where do Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump stand on border security? I wonder?
President Trump – Mass Deportations and Border Wall
Former President Trump made a crackdown on illegal immigration a top issue in 2016, calling for a massive wall on the southern border and promising a tougher stance against Mexico.
In the wake of the massive migrant crisis at the southern border that exploded under the Biden administration, President Trump has once again made the issue one of his top priorities in the 2024 campaign.
He promised to complete more than 450 miles of wall built during his administration. He also promised to launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history” to deport millions of illegal immigrants.
President Trump says if elected, he will launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history''
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally at JS Dorton Arena on November 4, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
He also promised to end “all open border policies of the Biden administration.”
Regarding the immigration crime issue, he said he would invoke the Hostile Alien Act to eliminate gang members and drug traffickers in order to end once and for all the “scourge of violence by illegal alien gangs.”
“Today, upon taking office, I am announcing that I will conduct Operation Aurora at the federal level and invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expedite the elimination of these barbaric gangs. 1798. That was 1790. Yeah, that was a long time ago, right?'' President Trump said last month. “Target and dismantle all immigrant criminal networks operating on American soil.”
Meanwhile, he is also looking beyond illegal immigration to end the immigration parole policy that the Biden administration has used to attract hundreds of thousands of immigrants through humanitarian parole.
“We don't call them because they use a little bit of a technicality, but to me that's illegal,” he said Monday of parole procedures in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
This will likely include restrictions on the CBP One app, which was expanded by the Biden administration to allow migrants to make appointments on the app at ports of entry.
The Trump administration is also likely to try to reinstate the 2019 Remain in Mexico policy and restore refugee admissions. He announced additional measures on Monday, pledging to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico.
“On day one or sooner, I'm going to tell[the Mexican president]that if we don't stop the onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, we're going to immediately impose a 25 percent tariff on everything they send to the United States.” ” he said.
Harris – Bipartisan Legislation and Demand for Pardon
Border security has been a touchy subject for Vice President Harris. Vice President Harris was given the nickname “border czar” by the media and some critics when she was tasked with leading diplomacy to address the root causes of immigration in early 2021.
In that role, she visited Mexico, Guatemala, and El Paso, Texas. She recently visited Arizona as part of her presidential campaign. Her office promotes projects that attract private investment to the region through calls to action, with more than $5.2 billion in funding from more than 50 companies and organizations since May 2021 to address root causes. Offer is being made.
She has also taken more radical stances in the past, including a pledge to end government contracts with private prisons and decriminalize illegal crossing during her tenure as a California state senator and 2020 presidential candidate. is also troubled. Harris' campaign staff told Fox that her position was “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Kamala Harris and the Southern Border Crisis: Timeline
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at Montage Mountain Resort on Monday, November 4, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
But she has emphasized her past as a prosecutor investigating transnational criminal organizations as she has sought to project herself as the best candidate to deal with the border crisis.
“As California Attorney General, Vice President Harris pursued international drug organizations, human traffickers, and cartels that smuggled guns, drugs, and people across the U.S.-Mexico border.
She also repeatedly criticized Trump for his alleged role in defeating a bipartisan border security bill introduced in the Senate in January, saying that Trump was “for political gain.” “They undermined the border agreement,” he said.
Although the bill failed to garner enough support to pass Congress, it would create 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, more than 4,300 new asylum officers, and 1,200 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers. It would provide additional funding to the border, including enforcement officers (ICE) officers and a team of 100 new immigration judges.
For more information on the border security crisis, click here
The bill also includes emergency powers that would allow authorities to block entry at the southern border if the number of people entering the country reaches a certain level, which conservatives say would lead to high levels of illegal immigration. It is claimed that this will happen.
The bill would also expedite work permits for migrants released into the interior and strengthen language for reliable fear testing into the United States.
Harris said she would sign the bill if it passes while she is president. But she also maintains support for the 2021 bill introduced by the Biden administration, which includes a massive amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.
She reiterated that she still hopes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants will be passed if she is elected to the White House.
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“We need a comprehensive plan,” Harris said in September. “That includes what we have to do to not only strengthen our borders, but also address the fact that we need to create paths to citizenship for people.”
