How Harris was dogged by 'border czar' label, past radical immigration views during failed campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris came into the statesmanlike contention with migration and borderline information arsenic apical issues for voters, but struggled to summation momentum connected the contented fixed her extremist past policies arsenic a California legislator and her relation successful the Biden administration’s nonaccomplishment to power the situation astatine the confederate border.

The Fox News Voter Analysis recovered that 52% of voters said President-elect Donald Trump was the amended campaigner to grip immigration, portion conscionable 36% said Harris. 

Meanwhile, it was 1 of the apical issues for voters, with 20% saying it was the astir important contented facing the country, down lone the system and jobs (39%) and up of termination (11%) and clime alteration (7%)

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Border Patrol picks up a radical of asylum seekers from an assistance campy astatine the US-Mexico borderline adjacent Sasabe, Arizona, US, connected Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)

The roots of Harris’ troubles connected migration began successful 2021, erstwhile the Biden-Harris medication rolled backmost Trump-era policies including borderline partition operation and the Remain-in-Mexico argumentation and aimed to spot a moratorium connected deportations.

That was followed by a melodramatic and historical surge astatine the borderline which overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and broke records for encounters, starring to chaos passim the state arsenic migrants poured in. The Biden medication said it was dealing with a "broken" strategy and legislature inaction, proposing a sweeping migration measure that included a wide amnesty for millions of amerciable immigrants, but Republicans and others tied the surge to the policies of the administration,.

As those numbers took off, President Biden successful March 2021 tasked Harris with starring diplomacy to countries southbound of the borderline to tackle what they saw arsenic the basal causes of migration -- including clime change, unit and poverty. Crucially, it led her to beryllium dubbed the "border czar" by critics and media outlets, though the White House rejected that moniker.

Despite the limits connected that role, it made her a figurehead of the spiraling crisis, and she instantly faced unit to sojourn the southern border. She visited Mexico and Guatemala but initially shrugged disconnected calls to sojourn the border.

"You haven’t been to the border," NBC’s Lester Holt told her, aft she claimed she had been to the border.

"And I haven’t been to Europe," Harris quipped.

WHY NOW? MEDIA OUTLETS LARGELY QUIET ON TIMING OF SUDDEN CRACKDOWN OF KAMALA HARRIS ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL 

The Washington Post volition not endorse erstwhile President Trump oregon Vice President Kamala Harris.  (Getty Images)

She yet visited El Paso, Texas, but the contention stuck, and Republicans would regularly notation the "border czar" erstwhile attacking the administration’s policies. Reports besides emerged that she was dissatisfied with the assignment. 

In that role, she would spell connected to raise more than $5.2 cardinal committed since May 2021 from implicit 50 companies and organizations to tackle basal causes, but the ongoing crisis, which didn’t dilatory down until 2024, took the spotlight.

This year, she and the medication threw their value down a bipartisan borderline information measure that was introduced successful the Senate successful January. That bill, which failed to prime up capable enactment to walk the chamber, would person provided further backing to the border, including for thousands of further personnel.

It besides included an exigency authorization to let officials to unopen down entries astatine the confederate borderline erstwhile they scope a definite level — but conservatives accidental it would solidify precocious levels of amerciable immigration.

But Trump’s absorption to the measure allowed Harris to impeach Trump of torpedoing the measure for governmental purposes.

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Vice President Kamala Harris gestures arsenic she delivers a concession code for the 2024 statesmanlike election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, connected the field of Howard University successful Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) ((AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

"Donald Trump learned astir that measure and told them to termination it due to the fact that helium preferred to tally connected a occupation alternatively of fixing a problem," she said. She besides noted a caller driblet successful borderline crossings since June aft President Biden signed a proclamation limiting asylum entries into the U.S.

"[Trump] tin marque up immoderate lies helium wants, but the information is there’s lone 1 campaigner successful this contention who volition combat for existent solutions to assistance unafraid our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris," her run said.

As a statesmanlike candidate, she besides emphasized her past arsenic an lawyer wide going aft transnational transgression organizations "that smuggled guns, drugs, and quality beings crossed the U.S.-Mexico border."

But she was besides deed by her past statements made during her clip arsenic a California legislator and a statesmanlike campaigner successful the 2020 predetermination cycle. Her enactment for gender modulation surgery to detained migrants deed headlines and was utilized arsenic a limb against her by Republicans.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

She would besides determination distant from past statements successful which she called for the decriminalization of amerciable borderline crossings and for the closing of migration detention centers. She had besides mulled ICE starting again "from scratch."

A Harris run adviser told Fox that her positions person been "shaped by 3 years of effectual governance arsenic portion of the Biden-Harris administration."

Ultimately, though, it was not capable to assistance her flooded her shortage connected the contented implicit Trump, who connected Wednesday reiterated his calls to unafraid the border.

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He has pledged to resume partition operation and motorboat a wide deportation operation, portion ending a fig of Biden-era policies erstwhile helium enters bureau successful January 2025.