Abortion, parental rights, trans issues: What would a Kamala Harris victory look like?
Illegal immigration
On the issue of illegal immigration, the Harris campaign has made the passage of the “bipartisan border security bill” introduced in Congress the centerpiece of its immigration platform. The campaign’s website describes the legislation in question as “the strongest reform in decades,” asserting that it “would have deployed more detection technology to intercept fentanyl and other drugs and added 1,500 border security agents to protect our border.”
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who played a prominent role in crafting the legislation, defended the bill as an effort to “flip the script” on the illegal immigration crisis engulfing the U.S. by providing “funding to build the wall” in addition to adding “more detention beds, more agents, and more deportation flights.” Earlier this year, amid debate about the legislation within his own party, Lankford contended that if the law had been in place four months earlier, “We would have had a million fewer illegal immigrants in the country right now.”
The measure failed to become law because of opposition within the Republican Party stemming from a belief that it incentivized as opposed to discouraged illegal immigration into the U.S. The bill also continued to allow illegals to enter the country.
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In a statement, Republican leaders in the House expressed concern that the measure “fails in every policy area needed to secure our border.”
According to the lawmakers, “Among its many flaws, the bill expands work authorizations for illegal aliens while failing to include critical asylum reforms. Even worse, its language allowing illegals to be ‘released from physical custody’ would effectively endorse the Biden ‘catch and release’ policy.”
“The so-called ‘shutdown’ authority in the bill is anything but, riddled with loopholes that grant far too much discretionary authority to [Homeland Security] Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the borders open,” the lawmakers warned. “The bill also fails to adequately stop [Biden’s] abuse of parole authority and provides for taxpayer funds to fly and house illegal immigrants in hotels through the FEMA Shelter Services program.”
The Harris campaign attributes the failure of the legislation to become law to intervention from Trump, asserting that the former president “killed the border deal for his political gain.” The campaign suggested that a Harris administration would pursue additional immigration reform in the form of “strong border security and an earned path to citizenship.”
During an interview with Fox News last week, Harris maintained, “I do not believe in decriminalizing border crossings, I have not done that as vice president, and I would not do that as president.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
