Harris vs. Trump showdown: Their stance on this top issue for voters

With the 2024 presidential elections just around the corner, immigration and… border security have been repeatedly cited as a top issue by voters — but where do Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump stand on securing the border?

Trump – mass deportations and border wall

Former President Trump made the crackdown on illegal immigration his breakthrough issue in 2016, calling for a massive wall on the southern border and promising a tougher stance on Mexico.

With a massive migrant crisis at the southern border exploding under the Biden administration, Trump once again made the issue one of his top focuses on the 2024 campaign trail.

He has promised to complete the wall, more than 700 kilometers of which were built during his administration. He has also promised to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL CARRY OUT THE ‘LARGEST DOMESTIC DEPORTATION OPERATION IN US HISTORY’ IF ELECTED

He has too promised to end “any open borders policy of the Biden administration.”

On the issue of migrant crime, he has said he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act to remove gang members, drug dealers and others, ending a “scourge of illegal alien gang violence once and for all.”

“Today I am announcing that upon taking office we will conduct Operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removal of these savage gangs, and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Think of that, 1798. there , 1790. Yeah, that’s a long time ago, right?’ Trump said last month. “Any criminal migrant network operating on U.S. soil must be targeted and dismantled.”

Meanwhile, he has sought to move beyond illegal immigration to also end the migrant parole policy used by the Biden administration to bring in hundreds of thousands of migrants through humanitarian parole.

“They’re using a little bit of a technicality, so we don’t call them, but to me that’s illegal,” he said Monday of the parolees for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

It would likely entail limiting the CBP One app, which the Biden administration expanded to allow migrants to make appointments through the app at ports of entry.

A Trump administration would also likely seek to reinstate the 2019 Remain-in-Mexico policy and reduce refugee admissions. On Monday, he announced an additional policy, promising to impose a 25% tariff on incoming goods from Mexico.

“I’m going to inform (the Mexican president) on day one or sooner that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m immediately going to impose a 25% tariff on everything they send. to the United States of America,” he said.

Harris – bipartisan legislation and calls for amnesty

Border security has been a touchy subject for the EU Vice President Harriswho was nicknamed “border czar” by the media and some critics when she was tasked with leading diplomacy in early 2021 to tackle the root causes of migration.

In that roleshe visited Mexico, Guatemala and El Paso, Texas. She recently visited Arizona as part of her presidential campaign. Her office has touted a project to mobilize private sector investment in the region through a call to action that has seen more than $5.2 billion pledged by more than 50 companies and organizations since May 2021 to address root causes .

She was also haunted by her history of more radical positions while serving as a California senator and 2020 presidential candidate, including a pledge to end government contracts with private prisons and decriminalize illegal crossings. A Harris campaign adviser told Fox that her positions were “shaped by three years of effective administration as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”

KAMALA HARRIS AND THE SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS: A TIMELINE

But as she has tried to portray herself as the candidate best suited to tackle the border crisis, she has highlighted her past as a prosecutor who went after transnational criminal organizations.

“As California Attorney General, Vice President Harris went after international drug gangs, human traffickers and cartels that smuggled guns, drugs and people across the US-Mexico border.

She has also repeatedly grilled Trump over his alleged role in torpedoing a bipartisan border security bill introduced in the Senate in January, accusing him of “destroying the border deal for his political gain.”

That bill, which did not receive enough support to pass the House, would have provided additional funding at the border, including 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) staff, more than 4,300 new asylum officers, 1,200 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel, and 100 new teams of immigration judges.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

It also included an emergency authority that allowed officials to close access at the southern border when they reached a certain level — but conservatives say that would reinforce high levels of illegal immigration.

The bill would also expedite work permits for migrants released domestically and strengthen language for credible fear investigations in the US.

Harris has said she will sign the bill if it passes when she is president. However, she has also maintained her support for a 2021 bill introduced by the Biden administration that includes a massive amnesty for millions of people. illegal immigrants.

She has reiterated that she still wants the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants to be bypassed if she is elected to the White House.

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“We need a comprehensive plan,” Harris said in September. “That includes what we need to do to not only strengthen our border, but also deal with the fact that we also need to create pathways for people to earn citizenship.”