Kamala Harris Defends her Immigration Strategy and Targets Republicans With Calls for Congressional Action

Vice President Kamala Harris has again pledged to strengthen border security should she be elected president, doubling down on recent measures by the Biden administration that have led to the lowest amount of border crossings of his term.

In late September, Kamala Harris visited the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time as the Democratic presidential nominee, outlining sweeping restrictions she plans to enact if she wins her bid to the White House, including bringing back the bipartisan border bill that was killed by Senate Republicans earlier this year.

The efforts, which took place earlier this year, fell short in Congress, largely due to former President Donald Trump's call for Republicans to reject the proposal. "We need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem," Harris said in an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes.

Harris also called for more resources for the Border Patrol, arguing that decreasing the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. will be a "top priority" if she's elected in November. She also vowed to keep in place Biden's executive order limiting asylum at the southern border, bring more resources to border patrol agents and "keep the border closed."

In fact, the administration announced last week that it's further toughening asylum-seeking at the southern border as it continues to crack down on unlawful immigration ahead of the presidential elections.

The new rules increase the requisites needed to lift severe restrictions initially imposed in June. The previous ones determined that the U.S. could restrict asylum petitions when the amount of migrants arriving at the border between ports of entry reached 2,500 per day. They could then be lifted when the average dropped to 1,500 per day for a week.

Now, however, the average will have to extend for almost a month before restrictions can be lifted. Moreover, the administration is also including children in the count, when before it only counted children from Mexico. The measure has already gone into effect. The Vice President says she understands that people are desperate to come into the United States, but that the system must be "orderly."

The decision comes as immigration continues to play a key role in the presidential campaign. Democrats have been toughening their stance on the issue, which became an electoral liability with voters largely favoring stricter rules.

Harris has faced political mischaracterizations regarding her role when it comes to immigration during the Biden administration. The president appointed her in 2021 to spearhead diplomatic initiatives to address the underlying causes of migration from Central America's Northern Triangle—comprising Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Using that as a platform, different GOP members falsely dubbed her as "border czar," casting her as solely responsible for the management of the U.S.-Mexico border, despite not being previously involved in border control policies during her time as Vice President.

While immigration has been a persistent issue, the Biden-Harris administration has witnessed a surge in undocumented crossings during its early years, attributed to the loosening of pandemic-era restrictions. Harris acknowledged the challenges, stating, "Solutions are at hand. And from Day One, literally, we have been offering solutions", Harris said.