Harris under pressure over border security in White House campaign

As Republicans criticize Kamala Harris’s immigration positions, Hispanic leaders want more details

WASHINGTON, DC – Two weeks ago, an invitation to a backyard barbecue at the vice president’s mansion landed in Frankie Miranda’s inbox.

Nationally recognized leaders of the Latino community, including Miranda, who heads the Hispanic Federation, were invited to Kamala Harris’ official residence for a “celebration” of their work. As President Joe Biden’s chief motivator, Harris needed to help woo Latino voters, and a barbecue was a modest way to do that.

Then Biden dropped out. Now that Harris is closing in on the Democratic nomination, the stakes for her have risen, and with them the expectations of more than a handful of Latino leaders who confirmed for the event. Among other things, they want to know where she stands on the issues that matter most to their communities, including one of the most contentious in the campaign: immigration.

“People expect a different kind of program for an event at the vice president’s house than they would for an event with the presumptive Democratic nominee,” said Miranda, who plans to attend Thursday’s dinner. The vice president’s office declined to confirm the event.

But as she takes on her new role as a presidential candidate, Harris is already facing scrutiny on immigration from both political opponents and allies.

Even before she had secured the necessary delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, Republicans in Congress and during the campaign began to denigrate her as a failed “border czar” who was doing little to curb record levels of illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border. (Harris never held that title, nor was she responsible for migration at the southern border.)

Polls show that Latino voters, who were evenly divided between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump earlier this month, are as concerned about the economy, health care, education and other key issues as any other group. And like many other Americans, Latino voters are increasingly worried about immigration.

Community organizers say the issue is often personal, given that there are more than 20 million Latin American immigrants in the country.

A handful of guests invited to Thursday’s barbecue told USA TODAY that they and their communities want answers about how the Harris administration would handle issues of special importance to Latinos.

How will she calm tensions between Latin American immigrants who have lived here for years and those just arriving at the U.S. border?

Can she secure the border and prevent new humanitarian crises? How will she guard the line between the demands of progressives in her party and those occupying the rest of the middle ground?

The Biden administration “has made efforts to work toward more humane immigration policies and more conservative policies — and they failed because Congress was unwilling to work with the administration,” Miranda said. “We hope that Kamala Harris has learned how to address an issue that is so important to our community.”

Is Kamala Harris the ‘border czar’?

Early in his administration, President Joe Biden gave Harris the same portfolio he held as vice president under Barack Obama. He tasked Harris with strengthening diplomatic ties south of the border, with Mexico and Central American countries. The goal was to create a “root causes” strategy that would address the reasons people flee their home countries for the U.S. border.

If there is a U.S. “border czar,” it’s the cabinet secretary responsible for border security. Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas has held that role since 2021.

Instead, Harris was given “a vague assignment that was quickly redefined as a diplomatic effort to help Central America address the root causes of the refugees,” said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America. “She really ran away from any sense that she was going to have to deal with the border or the effects of immigration policy.”

The long-term approach, focused on root causes, did not yield results until migration patterns changed dramatically.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 8.4 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border during the Biden administration through June — a record for any presidential administration and one Harris will likely have to defend.

Venezuelans began flocking to the U.S. in 2022. People from a more diverse group of countries, from China to Ecuador, also began arriving at the U.S. southern border, causing repeated humanitarian crises in border communities.

Republicans blamed Biden for his so-called “open borders” policy, as the administration pointed to global unrest and historic migration beyond its control.

Illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border didn’t start with Biden, but it got worse. Migrant apprehensions began to rise during the Trump administration, before COVID-19 hit and restricted travel worldwide.

About 14% of the country’s total population is now foreign-born, slightly shy of the record set more than a century ago. Nearly half of the immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 1965 and 2022 came from Latin America, according to a Pew Research analysis of the U.S. Census.

As the world recovered from the pandemic and the economic devastation it caused in many countries, migration to the US border increased.

Still, “migration is no longer overwhelmingly coming from the countries that were the focus of the root causes strategy,” said Anita Isaacs, a political scientist at Haverford College who studies U.S.-Latin American relations. “I think the root causes strategy deserves some credit for that.”

Polls show immigration is a growing concern for Latin American voters

While financial issues – inflation, cost of living, job security – consistently rank among the top priorities of Latino voters, immigration is a growing concern, according to a June poll of Latino voters by UnidosUS.

Immigration and the border rose from 9th place two years ago to 3rd place this year, among the concerns cited by Latino voters.

Providing citizenship opportunities for undocumented people living in the United States is a top priority for Latino voters, according to the poll, said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, vice chair of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS.

Martinez De Castro has also been invited to the barbecue at Harris’s home and plans to attend.

While leaders said Thursday’s event is primarily aimed at celebrating the achievements of organizers from the Latino community, Martinez De Castro said Harris has an opportunity to deliver a message to voters about how she plans to address immigration.

Nearly a third of respondents named improving border security and expanding legal immigration as their top three priorities, an indication of the political tensions Harris faces in appealing to Hispanic voters.

The poll found that completing the border wall and deporting all illegal immigrants — which are part of the plans Trump, the Republican nominee, has outlined for a second term — were among the lowest priorities for respondents.

Martinez said there has been “a constant stream of toxicity” coming from Trump and other Republicans, citing calls for a “mass deportation” program and inflammatory rhetoric around immigrants.

“The question is, will Harris step into that role and speak for the majority of voters who may not recognize themselves in the more toxic portrayal of the issue that is dominating the airwaves right now?” she said.

Biden and Harris’ Accomplishments and Shortcomings on Immigration

For more than 30 years, in the absence of substantive congressional action on immigration, successive presidential administrations have created policies to discourage or control the flow of migrants. They have built border fences, attempted to push migrants back to Mexico, and restricted access to asylum. Any reductions in migration have often been short-lived.

The number of migrants arriving at the southern border has fallen sharply after hitting a monthly record high in December.

Analysts believe this is due to two strategies: a tough stance by Mexico, under pressure from the Biden administration, and Biden’s June 5 executive order to drastically restrict access to the U.S. asylum system at the southern border.

“That’s a big one-two punch,” said Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America. “The other is the offer to help Panama deport migrants.”

“They’ve found a short-term formula,” he said. “The last 10 years have shown that smugglers will get it.” He predicts that the migrants will find a way to come back.

Through her work on root causes, Harris has focused on countries in the so-called Northern Triangle – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – alongside the private sector, generating more than $5.2 billion in investment in the region to keep people in their home countries.

Thanks to the investments, we have given more than 4.5 million people access to the internet and brought more than 2.5 million people into the formal financial system.

In March, Harris hosted Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo at the White House, where she announced new commitments, including a $50 million initiative to strengthen the rule of law in security and justice institutions through a partnership between the State Department and Guatemala.

‘Alignment with policy priorities’

Guests at Thursday’s barbecue include A-list leaders from some of the country’s most storied and active Latino community organizations, from LULAC to organizations working to get people out to the polls like Mi Familia Vota.

LULAC President Roman Palomares wrote the vice president a note declining the invitation due to scheduling conflicts. But the organization’s CEO will be attending. Palomares said he hopes the vice president will address an issue that divides his community and the nation.

“We’re waiting to see what her platform is going to be,” he said. “She and Biden have done a lot for the Hispanic community. We hope she continues in that vein. But we’re also looking at how we can solve some of this immigration crisis. It’s tearing us apart.”

Héctor Sánchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, believes Harris should speak openly about her commitment to immigrant causes.

Besides, she’s not Trump, who he thinks doesn’t have Latinos’ best interests at heart.

“One is very clear, almost a full alliance,” he said. “Trump is a major enemy. Enemy number one of the Latino community.”

Sanchez said Harris is committed to efforts to investigate Trump’s family separation policy and urged Congress to create a path to citizenship for Dreamers, temporary protected status holders and essential workers.

“We need to see that continuation of real solutions for the nation,” he said. “We are a nation that is very hypocritical when it comes to immigration. We are addicted to cheap, exploitable labor, and the entire nation profits from the hard work of immigrants.”