Harris walks fence at US-Mexico border as she works to project tougher stance on migration
Vice President Kamala Harris has used her first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee to try to project a tougher stance on illegal migration
DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris walked a scrubby stretch along the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday and called for further tightening of asylum restrictions as she sought to project a tougher stance on illegal migration and address one of her biggest vulnerabilities in the November election.
Harris' push to further restrict asylum claims moves beyond President Joe Biden’s policy on an issue where her rival, former President Donald Trump, has an edge with voters. She balanced tough talk on policing the border with calls for a better way to welcome immigrants legally.
“I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose either between securing our border and creating a system that is orderly, safe and humane,” Harris said. "We can and we must do both.”
In her first trip to the international boundary since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris chatted with local Border Patrol leaders as they strode along a rust-colored stretch of wall built during Barack Obama's presidency. Temperatures in Douglas, Arizona, neared 100 degrees during a conversation that lasted about half an hour.
