Vice President Kamala Harris is playing the old wall game.
The Democratic presidential nominee raised eyebrows in recent days after her campaign pushed out a commercial showing off the US-Mexico border wall — which Harris herself has attacked in past years as “un-American” and a waste of resources when it was pitched by Republican nominee Donald Trump.
At last week’s Democratic National Convention, however, the ex-senator from California undercut her seemingly newfound hardline stance on immigration by saying she wanted Congress to resurrect a bipartisan border bill that earmarked $650 million to construct new barriers and shore up old ones, but stopped short of realizing the massive reinforced wall promised by Trump for more than a decade.
“After decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border,” Harris, 59, told delegates at the United Center in Chicago. “Last year, [President] Joe [Biden] and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The border patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal.”
“As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law,” she added, vowing: “We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border.”
The Aug. 7 ad, which was titled “Tougher” and underscored Harris’ credentials as a “border state prosecutor,” is the latest example of the veep presenting herself as a moderate — even to the point of adopting her rival’s own positions.
Trump’s team seethed Tuesday after an Axios report was published headlined “Harris flip-flops on building the border wall,” with the GOP campaign insisting she had done nothing of the kind.
“How much longer will the mainstream media allow Kamala Harris to hide and use staff to speak on her behalf? It’s DAY 37 of ZERO interviews and Kamala’s anonymous campaign sources are now claiming she supports President Trump’s border wall — this is a preposterous and false claim,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt griped in a statement. “Kamala’s RECORD proves she is pro-open border. She called the wall ‘un-American,’ a ‘waste of taxpayer money,’ ‘medieval,’ and said it isn’t going to ‘stop’ illegal immigration.
“As a senator, Kamala tried to block President Trump’s construction of the border wall. As Border Czar, Kamala Harris halted construction of the border wall,” Leavitt added. “Kamala’s ACTIONS speak much louder than the WORDS of the anonymous staff she is cowering behind.”
The Harris campaign did not comment on the record.
Polls have generally shown that immigration and the state of the border is the second most important issue for voters this cycle, trailing only matters related to the economy.
According to an Echelon Insights survey published Monday, 16% of voters said immigration and border security were their top issues compared to 26% who said inflation and the cost of living.
When asked which candidate had the better border policy, 51% said “probably” or “definitely” Trump, compared to 42% who indicated “definitely” or “probably” Harris, the poll found.
Harris and other Democrats have harped on the failed border security bill to fend off GOP attacks over the migration crisis.
The legislation, negotiated by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) called for spending $4 billion for new asylum officers and an overhaul of the asylum-seeking process.
It also would have withheld most of the $650 million in “wall money” for the next administration to use, according to a summary from the Republican negotiator.
Senate GOP resistance to the bill stiffened after Murphy tried to reassure immigration advocates on social media, writing: “A requirement the President to funnel asylum claims to the land ports of entry when more than 5,000 people cross a day. The border never closes, but claims must be processed at the ports. This allows for a more orderly, humane asylum processing system.”
Republicans seized on the “border never closes” line, and helped send the bill down to defeat twice in the Senate while Democrats argued they had done so only to deny President Biden a political win.
The border is only the latest issue on which Harris has feinted toward the center — after expressing support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings during her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign.
Since taking the top spot on the Democratic ticket, the veep has ostensibly reversed her prior opposition to private health insurance and fracking — though she has yet to personally confirm these policy changes on the record.
Harris has also taken flack from Trump’s allies for poaching his proposal for no taxes on tips earlier this month.
Trump has accused the Harris-Biden administration of igniting a border crisis by reversing many of his initiatives such as the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
The 45th president has also gone much further than Harris on the border, calling for a mass deportation of illegal immigrants in the country.
