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Harris supports immigration restrictions after border visit

Harris supports immigration restrictions after border visit

Vice President Kamala Harris unpacked her immigration plan Friday after visiting the southern border for the first time since running as the Democratic nominee. “I reject the false decision that says we must choose between securing the border and creating a safe, orderly and humane immigration system. We can and must do both,” Harris said. Harris’ stay in Arizona was a key turning point in the state, coming at a time when polls show immigration remains one of its biggest weaknesses. An NBC News poll from earlier this month found that voters favor former President Donald Trump’s approach to border security by 21 points, a significant advantage over Harris but a smaller advantage compared to previous polls when President Joe Biden was still in office Race was. If elected, Harris promises to expand legal pathways to citizenship while tightening restrictions on the asylum system, building on the Biden-Harris administration’s current policies. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June that largely suspends processing asylum applications if U.S. officials believe the southern border is overcrowded. Harris’ proposal would “make it more difficult to lift the emergency authority by requiring that the number of average border crossings be lower for an extended period of time before the shutdown can be lifted,” according to a fact sheet sent out by her campaign stating this It did not contain a specific threshold. “To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take additional action to keep the border closed between ports of entry,” Harris said at her event Friday. Government data shows that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol made 58,038 arrests for illegal border crossings at the Mexican border in August, a slight increase from the previous month but significantly fewer than the 117,905 enforcement encounters in May, before Biden’s emergency measures took effect, and December peaked at 249,741 arrests. Increased enforcement by Mexican authorities also appears to be contributing to the decline. Ahead of Harris’ border visit on Friday, former President Donald Trump went on the offensive. He pointed to new data sent to lawmakers this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The letter said that as of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories listed in ICE’s national file. “Kamala is directly responsible for the tens of thousands of crimes committed by the illegal migrants she released into our country,” Trump said. After this story was published, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson issued a statement calling the detailed data the letter “is being misinterpreted.” “The data goes back decades; This includes people who have entered the country in the last 40 years or more and whose custody decisions were largely made long before this administration. This includes many who are subject to the jurisdiction of or currently incarcerated by federal, state or local law enforcement partners,” the spokesperson wrote. In the original letter, ICE reported that most migrants are on the list, which includes both convicted and convicted felons. The letter said the list of non-detained ICE officers included tens of thousands of non-citizens charged with murder and “We are removing a record number of migrants who have no legal basis to remain.” in the United States.” and prioritizing the deportation of those who pose a risk to national and public security, as well as recent border crossers.” Trump has promised to take more drastic measures: “We will close the border.” We will stop the invasion. “We are going to launch the largest deportation operation in American history,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan on Friday. Harris often highlights her previous work as California’s attorney general in prosecuting transnational gangs. She also said Friday she would give federal law enforcement more resources to pursue cartels in court and improve detection of deadly drugs like fentanyl at the border. Harris vowed to work on immigration reform at all levels and criticized Trump for pressuring Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan border deal in Congress. “He would rather dwell on the problem than fix it,” Harris said. On Friday, Trump called the law a “waste of paper.” The former president is expected to provide further answers at a campaign rally on immigration on Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris unpacked her immigration plan Friday after visiting the southern border for the first time since running as the Democratic nominee.

“I reject the false decision that says we must choose between securing the border and creating a safe, orderly and humane immigration system. We can and must do both,” Harris said.

Harris’ stay in Arizona, a key swing state, comes at a time when polls show immigration remains one of her biggest weaknesses.

An NBC News poll from earlier this month found that voters favor former President Donald Trump’s approach to border security by 21 points, a significant advantage over Harris but a smaller advantage compared to previous polls when President Joe Biden was still in office Race was.

If elected, Harris promises to expand legal pathways to citizenship while tightening restrictions on the asylum system, building on the Biden-Harris administration’s current policies.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June that largely suspends processing asylum applications if U.S. officials believe the southern border is overcrowded. Harris’ proposal would “make it more difficult to lift the emergency authority by requiring that the number of average border crossings be lower for an extended period of time before the shutdown can be lifted,” according to a fact sheet sent out by her campaign stating this It did not contain a specific threshold.

“To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take additional action to keep the border closed between ports of entry,” Harris said at her event Friday.

Government data shows that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol made 58,038 arrests for illegal border crossings at the Mexican border in August, a slight increase from the previous month but significantly fewer than the 117,905 enforcement encounters in May, before Biden’s emergency measures took effect, and December peaked at 249,741 arrests. Increased enforcement by Mexican authorities also appears to be contributing to the decline.

Ahead of Harris’ border visit on Friday, former President Donald Trump went on the offensive. He pointed to new data sent to lawmakers this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The letter said that as of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories listed in ICE’s national file.

“Kamala is directly responsible for the tens of thousands of illegal immigrant crimes she released into our country,” Trump said.

After this story was published, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying that the data listed in the letter was being “misinterpreted.”

“The data goes back decades; they include people who have entered the country in the last 40 years or more and whose custody decisions were largely made long before this administration. They also include many who are under federal jurisdiction or are currently incarcerated, state or local law enforcement partners,” the spokesperson wrote.

In the original letter, ICE reported that most migrants on the list, which includes both convicted criminals and those with pending charges, were not detained. According to the letter, there were tens of thousands of non-citizens convicted of murder and sexual offenses in ICE’s non-detained file.

“Some jurisdictions have limited their cooperation with ICE and are now denying ICE detention requests, even for noncitizens convicted of serious crimes who pose an ongoing threat to public safety,” the letter continued. “We are deporting and returning record numbers of migrants who cannot establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, and are prioritizing deportation those who pose a risk to national security and public safety, as well as recent border crossers. “

Trump has promised to take more drastic measures.

“We will close the border. We will stop the invasion. “We are going to launch the largest deportation operation in American history,” Trump told a crowd in Michigan on Friday.

Harris often highlights her previous work as California’s attorney general in prosecuting transnational gangs. She also said Friday she would give federal law enforcement more resources to pursue cartels in court and improve detection of deadly drugs like fentanyl at the border.

Harris vowed to work on immigration reform at all levels and criticized Trump for pressuring Republican lawmakers to reject a bipartisan border deal in Congress.

“He would rather dwell on the problem than fix it,” Harris said.

On Friday, Trump called the law a “waste of paper.” The former president is expected to provide further answers at a campaign rally on immigration on Saturday.