Washington, DC— At her rallies over the weekend in Nevada and Arizona, Vice President Kamala Harris made some of her strongest comments over what immigration policy might look like in her administration. Many of the press reports focused solely on her remarks about border security and chastising Donald Trump for essentially “vetoing” bipartisan Senate border security legislation. Yet the Vice President and her running mate made clear they have a different approach that reflects what the American people want: the combination of a secure and orderly border with legal pathways to citizenship. Harris emphasized the need for broad reform, leaning in on establishing pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and the need for legal pathways for migrants to come with a visa instead of a smuggler.
According to Douglas Rivlin, Senior Director of Communication for America’s Voice:
“Vice President Kamala Harris has a starkly different approach to Donald Trump when it comes to meeting the challenge of immigration reform. Harris is doing more than embracing enforcement and border security, which was the focus of a lot of the news coverage of her remarks over the weekend. She is making it very clear that in order to modernize our immigration system, we must both resolve border issues and establish orderly, vitally-needed legal channels and citizenship pathways for long established immigrants who already live and work here and have earned legal status.
With border apprehensions way down and the opposition promising to deport millions – while destroying American families and jobs along the way – there is an opportunity for the Vice President to define her opponent as having no solution to immigration other than mass deportation, which will create chaos in our communities and our economy. With the Democratic National Convention a week away and the first debate with Trump following shortly after, it’s important for Harris to continue to go on the offensive and push forward popular and good policies that better connect with the majority of the electorate than the dystopic and dangerous vision offered by others.”
