The speakers are as follows: Democratic National Convention We will be covering immigration policy. Border Security On Wednesday, a Harris campaign official told CBS News that this was part of an attempt to redefine what is widely seen as the biggest political vulnerability for Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris this campaign cycle.
Speakers, including Democratic lawmakers focused on immigration policy and sheriffs from Texas counties near the U.S.-Mexico border, are expected to cover: Bipartisan border security agreement The bill, enacted earlier this year, imposes significant restrictions on asylum and provides funding to hire thousands of additional Border Patrol agents and immigration officers.
They plan to accuse former President Donald Trump of playing political games on immigration. Urge Republicans to They reject a border policy compromise that collapsed in Congress without sufficient GOP support. At the same time, speakers are expected to portray Trump as anti-immigrant and highlight his most controversial campaign promises. promise Deporting millions of illegal immigrants as part of a massive deportation operation.
Among those jumping on the immigration bandwagon is Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a key Democratic negotiator on the team that brokered the border security deal. Tom Suozzi, CEO A New York lawmaker has taken a moderate position on the issue in an effort to soften Republican attacks on immigration, and Javier Salazar, the sheriff of Bexar County, Texas, which includes San Antonio, told CBS News that he supports the Harris campaign.
Bryn Anderson / AP
California Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, and social media influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina are also scheduled to speak about immigration on Wednesday, the campaign added.
The plan signals a redoubling of Democrats’ efforts to undermine their assault on immigration, which Republicans and Trump have sought to make a defining issue of the 2024 election, citing record levels of illegal border crossings under the Biden administration. Trump plans to visit a region near the Arizona-Mexico border on Thursday to offer a counter-program to the DNC.
Polls over the past year have shown that immigration is one of the most negative polling issues for the Biden-Harris administration. CBS News Poll A poll released earlier this week found that voters believe Trump is more likely than Harris to reduce migrant crossings at the southern border.
Trump and Republicans have blamed Harris for the unprecedented levels of border crossings recorded over the past few years, calling her the Biden administration’s “border czar,” but Harris has not taken on that role. Instead, she has I was given a mission She oversees diplomatic efforts to address poverty, violence and other root causes of migration from Central America. She also emphasized her more liberal immigration stance during her 2020 presidential campaign, including her embrace of moves to decriminalize border crossings.
But Harris has tried to change that perception on the campaign trail. At rallies, she promised that if elected, she would revive bipartisan border security agreements and open a “path to” citizenship for longtime illegal immigrants. In recent ads, Harris’s campaign touted her work as a prosecutor in tracking international gangs and her support for upgrading the ranks of Border Patrol agents.
Unlike in previous years, Harris and Democrats can now point out that border crossings are in steep decline. In July, illegal crossings were Dropped it It was the fifth straight month of declines, dropping to the lowest level since September 2020. Officials attributed the dramatic drop in arrivals to Biden’s June executive action that partially halted asylum processing, extreme summer heat and Mexico’s efforts to slow the flow of migrants to the United States.
Harris’s attempt to portray herself as a champion of border security largely underscores a broader trend among Democrats to coalesce around stronger messages on border security. For example, the party platform adopted by the DNC this week embraced restrictions on asylum, a marked departure from the more progressive immigration stance of 2020.
The 2024 platform says Democrats support expediting the deportation of economic immigrants and urges Congress to “tighten requirements” for asylum applications. The platform says the president should have the power to “suspend processing” of asylum applications when “the system is overwhelmed.”
The 2020 platform did not mention restrictions on asylum. On the contrary, Democrats pledged to “protect and expand existing asylum systems and other humanitarian protections” and “end the Trump administration’s policies that deny asylum seekers access to protection.”
The party’s platform at the time condemned Trump-era immigration policies as “callous, cruel and utterly reckless.”
Camilo Montoya-Galvez
