Kamala Harris is aiming to neutralize a political vulnerability and rebut Donald Trump’s core campaign message today as she takes her tough-on-migration stance to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Harris’ immediate goal is to signal to moderate voters that she will be an aggressive enforcer of the law and keep migration in check. After struggling on the issue, Democrats have finally found what they believe is a winning message: remind voters that Trump pressured Republicans to kill a bipartisan bill this past spring that would impose tougher border controls and make it harder to get asylum.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive it weekdays. Trump has long held a clear advantage among voters on immigration, though NBC News polling shows that edge is narrowing. Asked in January which candidate would be better on the issue of securing the border and controlling immigration, voters favored Trump over Joe Biden by 35 points. But in this month’s survey, Trump’s lead over Harris on that question was down to 21 points. The gender divide was still stark: Trump led Harris on the border question by 41 points among men, by 52 points among white men, and by 13 points among nonwhite men. Harris has highlighted a different side of her background as she has tackled this issue: the tough prosecutor who took on international gangs and organized crime as the top law enforcement officer of California. Her message reflects a broader turn on immigration within the Democratic Party and foreshadows a transformed policy landscape in the coming years, where imposing tougher border controls will likely be the focal point regardless of which party wins the election. “The priorities have to be getting the border under control. The numbers are very low right now, but you can’t guarantee that that will remain the case. You also can’t be assured that the courts won’t ultimately strike down the executive orders that the administration has taken,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the party’s chief negotiator on a major border security package, told NBC News in an interview. “I think our ability to get other reforms into law is made easier by putting a priority on border security.” Harris’ pitch completes a turnaround from 2019, when she took more left-leaning positions as a presidential candidate, including backing a call to reduce illegal border crossings to a civil — not criminal — violation and objecting to Obama-era deportations. At the time, Democrats were de-emphasizing enforcement in their messaging and putting a greater focus on expanding opportunities for prospective immigrants. But while Harris calls for bringing back the bipartisan border bill, its chief Republican negotiator said that’s easier said than done. “No bill you can just pick up and just move to another year, because it just doesn’t work that way,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said in an interview. “I think she knows that. It’s a good talking point, but mechanically, that’s not actually true.” |