Kamala Harris Shifts Stance On Border Wall, Supports Filling Strategic Gaps

Vice President Kamala Harris, now a presidential candidate, has shifted her position from opposing the construction of a border wall to filing in key sections along the southwest border.

In 2018, Harris and other Democrats had called the former President Donald Trump's border wall a waste of taxpayer money and a "vanity project," with the vice president calling it "un-American."

Currently, the presidential candidate's border security plan comprises filling in key sections of the nearly 2,000-mile border wall, NBC News reported. Harris supported a failed bipartisan bill, which she now says is the base of her border policy.

Since 2021, materials to build the wall have been sitting unused and rusting at the border after President Joe Biden stopped construction when he took office.

Mark Dannels, who served as the sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona, pointed out that construction materials were piled up near sections of the wall that aren't finished.

"So it's been sitting down here for last 3 1/2 years, and we've been frozen in time here in Cochise County when it comes to our border," he said, NBC News reported.

The number of migrants entering Cochise County has gone down since President Biden's executive action in June, which is also true for the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The sheriff's office reports that the average number of inmates in county jail for border-related crimes, like smuggling, has dropped by 23% since June. However, the Tucson area, which includes Cochise County, is still the busiest spot for illegal crossings in the country.

Dannels said his officers are still involved in high-speed car chases with U.S. citizens, who are paid to smuggle migrants.

On Friday, Harris had visited the border about an hour east of Cochise County. Even though Biden asked her to address the root causes of immigration in 2021, she had only visited the border once before during her time as vice president.

Harris campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said, "As attorney general of a border state, Vice President Harris prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings."

Ehrenberg added, "Americans want leaders like Kamala Harris who fix problems, not politicians who only want to campaign on them like Donald Trump. Vice President Harris believes in tough, smart solutions to secure the border, keep communities safe, and reform our broken immigration system."

Trump, who is also running for presidential elections this year, talks about immigration in every campaign speech. He often shares his plan to deport over 10 million migrants and praises his record on building the border wall.

Trump built over 450 miles of wall, but most of that was replacing old barriers with newer, taller ones.

Last week, an immigrant rights group in Ohio's Springfield filed a complaint against Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance for fueling rumors that Haitian immigrants were eating local pets.