by Allan Wall, Border Hawk, ©2024
(Oct. 20, 2024) — Presidential candidate Kamala Harris was interviewed on October 16 by Bret Baier of Fox News.
Border Hawk News does not endorse candidates. But we can report and evaluate what a candidate says about immigration.
Right after greetings, Baier got down to business:
“Voters tell pollsters all over the country and here in Pennsylvania that immigration is one of the key issues that they’re looking at this election — and specifically the influx of illegal immigrants from more than 150 countries. How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three-and-a-half years?”
Kamala NEVER answered that question though Baier asked it again.
However, she did resort to this tired old cliché:
“The point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.”
What do people mean by that? Our immigration system isn’t even being properly enforced!
Baier brought up this key point:
“And when you came into office, your administration immediately reversed a number of Trump border policies, most significantly, the policy that required illegal immigrants to be detained through deportation either in the US or in Mexico. And you switched that policy, they were released from custody awaiting trial. So instead, included in those were a large number of single men, adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes. So looking back, do you regret the decision to terminate remain in Mexico at the beginning of your administration?”
Kamala did not answer that question but brought up “a bill to fix our immigration system,” the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.
The Heritage Foundation studied this bill and concluded, “The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 is the most radical piece of immigration legislation ever introduced in America and seeks to reward illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens.”
The bill included a mass amnesty for illegal aliens, a return of aliens previously deported by Trump (!) and the legal change of the term “alien” to “noncitizen.”
That bill didn’t become law, but the fact that she presented it as a solution tells us something.
Harris said the focus of her administration had “been on fixing a problem” when actually her administration created the problem.
Baier brought up the killings of female Americans by illegals:
“Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, Laken Riley, they are young women who were brutally assaulted and killed by some of the men who were released at the beginning of the administration, well before a negotiated bipartisan bill. Former President Clinton actually referred to Laken Riley on Sunday, campaigning for you in Georgia, saying if those men had been properly vetted, Laken Riley probably would not have been killed… This is a specific policy decision by your administration to release these men into the country. So what I’m saying to you, do you owe those families an apology?”
Kamala’s reply:
“Let me just say, first of all, those are tragic cases. …I can’t imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred. So that is true. It is also true that if a border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would’ve had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it all together to ensure that no future harm would occur.”
“Madam Vice President, it was a policy decision in the early part of your administration,” Baier replied.
“During that time, you said repeatedly that the border was secure. When in your mind did it start becoming a crisis?”
Kamala returned to familiar ground: “I think we’ve had a broken immigration system…”
Baier countered, “There were 90 plus executive orders that were rescinded in the first days. Many of those were Trump border policies.”
My conclusion: The border situation is the result of the Biden-Harris agenda, making Kamala’s claim to want to fix it quite suspect.
Remember, if she wins, Kamala Harris will be in charge of U.S. immigration policy.
You can find more of Allan Wall’s work at his website and Mexico News Report.