Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday for the first time since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, and for the first time since 2021.
Harris will visit the border town of Douglas, in the key swing state of Arizona, located across the border from Agua Prieta, Mexico, the White House confirmed to The Epoch Times on Sept. 25.
During an Aug. 9 rally in Arizona, Harris said the U.S. immigration system is broken and can be fixed by “comprehensive reform. That includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”
She has criticized her rival in the presidential race, former President Donald Trump, for opposing the bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
Harris has vowed to resurrect the legislation if elected.
President Biden announced in March 2021 that he was tasking the vice president to help address the “root causes for the migration that we’ve been seeing.”
Since then, Harris has made one trip to the southern border as vice president in June 2021 when she visited a migrant processing center in El Paso, Texas.
That visit came after the vice president drew criticism during an appearance on NBC News where she was asked by host Lester Holt why she had not yet visited the southern border amid a worsening illegal immigration situation.
Harris responded that she had “never been to Europe” either. “I don’t understand the point you are making,” she added.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Harris campaign for further comment.
Trump, Vance Visit Border
Trump has visited the border multiple times since announcing his presidential campaign.
The Republican presidential candidate toured the border wall at Cochise County, Arizona, in August, alongside the county’s sheriff, the head of the Border Patrol union, and mothers of children who were killed in cases where the suspects were illegal immigrants.
Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has also visited the border wall in Arizona and has used such visits to call for tougher border policies, including the reinstatement of the Remain in Mexico immigration policy and an end to the “catch and release” of illegal immigrants.
A recent New York Times/Siena poll of voters in Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina showed 54 percent of respondents believe Trump would do a better job at handling the border crisis while 43 percent indicated that Harris would.
The planned visit to Douglas comes as apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the U.S. southern border rose to 107,503 in August, up from 104,101 in July, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP’s Office of Field Operations recorded 49,465 apprehensions in August, up from 47,702 in July.
Apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the southwest border hit an all-time high of 301,982 in December last year.
Aldgra Fredly, Lawrence Wilson, Jacob Burg, Stephen Katte, and Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times