On Friday, Kamala Harris’s campaign expressed confidence in its immigration messaging, targeting Donald Trump’s strong standing on border security as she visited Arizona. The Democratic presidential nominee took this opportunity to criticize Trump’s mass deportation plans and the divisive language surrounding immigration issues.
During her speech in Douglas, Arizona, Harris committed to a more robust approach to border security, vowing to reintroduce a bipartisan border bill in Congress that she intends to support if elected. “The United States is a sovereign nation, and we have a duty to set rules at our border and enforce them,” she stated seriously.
Harris also pointed out Trump’s failure to support a bipartisan border security bill that Republicans rejected in February, underscoring how the proposal would have provided resources to border agents, including technology to detect fentanyl smuggling. “It was the strongest border security bill we’ve seen in decades,” she noted, criticizing Trump for his reluctance to solve issues instead of merely campaigning on them.
Despite her efforts, immigration remains a challenging aspect of Harris’s campaign, with recent polls indicating that voters largely trust Trump over her to tackle these concerns. A CNN poll highlighted that 50% of respondents favored Trump on immigration, while only 34% trusted Harris.
This trend is notably evident in Arizona, where a recent Fox News poll revealed that 56% trust Trump more for border security compared to Harris’s 41%. While there have been improvements under her campaign since July, including recent reductions in illegal border crossings attributed to stricter asylum policies, a gap remains.
Pew Research findings released recently show sharp divides among voters on immigration policies, with big majorities of Republicans supporting Trump’s mass deportation plans compared to Democrats, who favored alternative approaches. Harris criticized Trump for prioritizing rhetoric over meaningful policies, pledging to secure the border and reform the immigration system collaboratively across party lines.
Some insiders believe that both major parties often rely on restrictive and enforcement-driven policies, neglecting the root causes of immigration issues. Melissa Morales, founder of Somos PAC, emphasized the importance of addressing economic and immigration concerns holistically, advocating for a balanced approach that keeps families intact and expands legal immigration avenues.
Overall, recent polls show Trump ahead of Harris on immigration by ten points, and experts suggest that Harris is trying to distance herself from the policies implemented during the Biden administration in an attempt to gain voter trust.