Vice President Kamala Harris said she favors "doubling" resources for the Department of Justice to crack down on cartels and drug-smuggling operations, further toughening her stance on security issues as the elections near.
The statement came after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that she would legalize fentanyl if elected. "As president, I will double the resources for the Department of Justice to go after those transnational cartels and take action to to stop the flow of fentanyl coming into our country, which is destroying entire communities," Harris said during a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday.
The Democratic candidate has spearheaded the party's shift in border security along with President Joe Biden, both in rhetoric and measures implemented. She has also been making reference to her time as prosecutor in California, tackling drug traffickers and transnational gangs.
"In that job, I walked underground tunnels between the United States and Mexico," she said during a rally in Atlanta in August. "I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers that came into our country illegally. I prosecuted them case after case, and I won."
Trump and Republicans have criticized Harris, focusing on her previous involvement in the border. Shortly after the Biden administration took office, Harris was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts with countries like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to tackle root causes of mass immigration in the region.
Immigration has been considered a special vulnerability for the Harris campaign, with its constant criticism being fueled by Trump and his fellow Republicans. Throughout the cycle, they have pounded the Vice President over the Biden administration's record on the issue and fault her for spending little time visiting the border during her time in the White House.
However, as migrant crossings continue to drop dramatically due to asylum changes from the Biden administration and Democrats changed their rhetoric, Republicans are focusing on potential scenarios rather than past ones.
Harris, on her end, travelled to Arizona last Friday her tough-on-border plans, outlining sweeping restrictions she plans to enact if she wins her bid to the White House, which included bringing back the bipartisan border bill that was killed by Senate Republicans earlier this year.
The visit to Douglas, Arizona marked the first time the Vice President visited the southern border since she took the helm of the Democratic party.
In her remarks, Harris 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."
The remarks were among her toughest on immigration and border policy given by a major Democratic figure, The New York Times suggested. But she still took time to slam her opponent, former President Donald Trump for having "inhumane" policies while also lacking an overall plan for solving issues.
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