House lawmakers held a hearing about illegal immigrant crime ahead of Tuesday night’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and 45th President Donald Trump.
The issue of illegal immigration is likely to be a key topic in the ABC News Presidential Debate, the first between Harris and Trump, among several other hot-button issues important to voters in the 2024 election.
The House Judiciary Committee hosted the “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives” hearing, which examined the effects of the Biden-Harris Administration’s open-border policies on American families and communities.
It featured testimony from crime victims’ advocates and families of those killed by illegal immigrants.
“People are turning a blind eye to what’s actually going on,” Patty Morin, Mother of Rachel Morin, told lawmakers. “And that’s allowed these unvetted criminals to come into our country and set up camp in all different states.”
Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother of five, was killed while out on a jog on a trail in August 2023. The suspect, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was charged with murder and assault.
“I personally am not against migration, I’m against unvetted migration,” April Aguirre, Crime Victims’ Advocate, stated during Tuesday’s hearing.
Voters and Illegal Immigration
According to a recent Gallup poll, 55 percent of Americans would like to see immigration to the U.S. decrease, compared to 41 percent one year ago.
The survey revealed that Americans favor several proposals that aim to restrict immigration but also support policies that would allow some illegal immigrants to remain in the country.
Seventy percent of Americans favor allowing immigrants who entered the country illegally a chance to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time.
According to the poll, 81 percent support a similar policy for those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.
Illegal Immigration: Harris Vs. Trump
Harris, in her new campaign website, vowed to establish an “earned pathway to citizenship” for migrants who cross the border illegally.
The vice president was named the “border czar” and tasked by President Joe Biden with tackling the root causes of the southern border crisis, an issue Trump may highlight during the debate just as he has done on the campaign trail.
“She loved the title but didn’t want to do the work,” Trump said while visiting the southern border last month, claiming that Harris wants “open borders” and allowed 20 million illegal immigrants from 158 countries into the United States as vice president.
Trump has pledged to seal the southern border by completing the construction of a wall and increasing enforcement. He has also vowed to impose the biggest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in U.S. history if reelected.
But Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar claimed in his speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that Trump did not help local law enforcement in border towns.
“When Donald Trump comes down to Texas, stands next to officers in uniforms just like mine, he’s not there to help us,” Salazar said on Wednesday night at the DNC. “Don’t think that for a second. He is a self-serving man.”
Harris may point to Trump’s role in blocking the bipartisan border bill, which ultimately failed in the Senate after Trump and other top Republicans pushed GOP lawmakers to reject it.
The Republican presidential nominee has defended his position on the bipartisan border bill. He called the bill “weak” and “ineffective” and claimed it would have allowed millions of people to “pour through the border.”
ABC will host the debate between Harris and Trump, which will air at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday from Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center.
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll suggests the stakes for the debate are high. Seven-in-10 Americans say they are going to watch the debate, while 3-in-10 say the debate will help decide their vote.