Vice President Kamala Harris introduces her plan for border security to crack down on drug trafficking and decrease migrant numbers during a speech in the border city of Douglas on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel Garza/Cronkite News)
DOUGLAS – Border security and stability were main themes in the gymnasium at Cochise College on Friday during a visit by Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris along with other prominent Democrats.
“I strongly supported the comprehensive border security bill written last year, as you know, by a bipartisan group of senators, including one of the most conservative members of the United States’ Congress,” Harris said. “That bill would have hired 1,500 more border agents and officers. It would have paid for 100 inspection machines to detect fentanyl that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.”
Harris made the failed bill one of her key points for her immigration push in the town of about 16,000 people. Her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, urged senators to oppose the bill earlier this year, which she said caused the bill to fail.
“It was the strongest border security bill we have seen in decades, it was endorsed by the Border Patrol union, and it should be in effect today, producing results, in real time, right now, for our country,” Harris said, “but Donald Trump tanked it.
Harris also addressed her plans for border security if she were to be elected in November.
“I will ensure that we target the entire global fentanyl supply chain because we must materially and sustainably disrupt the flow of illicit fentanyl coming into our country,” Harris said. “My approach takes into account also that the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl are by and large made in China and then shipped to Mexican cartels and trafficked right here into the United States. Our administration demanded that China crack down on the companies that make those chemicals, and it has started to happen, but they need to do more, and as president, I will hold them to their commitment to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals coming from China.”
Harris continued to target her opponent at the invite-only event when adding “(Trump) prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly speaks ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in Douglas on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel Garza/Cronkite News)
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes speaks ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris in Douglas on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel Garza/Cronkite News)
Arizona Republican Kari Lake, who is in the midst of a tight Senate race against Democrat Ruben Gallego, spoke about Harris’ visit in an interview Sunday.
“It was absolutely embarrassing. I’m embarrassed for her and ashamed of her. She created this mess on day one, hour one, minute one. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took an incredible border policy that we had in place, thanks to President Trump. We were building the border wall. We purchased the materials to continue the construction. We had ‘remain in Mexico,’ no catch and release, and we had brought down our numbers of illegal immigrant entries to a record low,” Lake said. “And on day one, they pulled that back. They invited the world to come.”
Lake said Harris’ “20-minute photo op” was all an act.
“(Harris) coming down there and trying to act like she cares … when she hasn’t done a damn thing except open up our border and cause carnage on our streets – with illegal immigrants, with gang members coming, with killers, rapists, murderers, criminals coming – is, it’s unforgivable,” Lake said.
Lake said issues at the border have also taken a toll on the economy, a topic Harris didn’t highlight in her Douglas speech.
“When you have all those people pouring in, they’re taking apartments, and they’re driving up the cost of housing. They’re driving up the cost of everything, and they’re keeping our wages low,” Lake said. “We are literally paying for the people coming in illegally, we’re paying for their living expenses so that they can then take jobs and make next to nothing, and that keeps Americans wages down.”
People from both sides of the political spectrum attended to Harris’ event.
Gretchen Baer, an Arizona artist, shows her support for Vice President Kamala Harris in a car decorated with Harris-themed paintings in Douglas on Sept. 27, 2024. (Photo by Gabriel Garza/Cronkite News)
Waiting right outside of the entrance secured by military personnel and metal detectors was a group of Trump supporters with signs who lived in Douglas.
“I believe that when he (Trump) started that wall, and it slowed down illegal immigration, and I think with him being able to finish that wall … he would be able to control who is coming in,” Mary Louise Vigil said.
Stacy Speer is on the other side of the aisle. She got her ticket to the invite-only event through people she knows.
“Everybody says how bad the border is,” Speer said. “I have lived here for almost 40 years, and it’s a lot better than it has been. I can remember just tons of people coming over. But she (Harris) is working with countries to make things better so that people don’t want to come over here illegally.”
Tori Verber Salazar, former district attorney of San Joaquin County, California, spoke before Harris, along with U.S. Sen Mark Kelly and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Salazar’s speech drew numerous “Kamala” chants from the crowd.
“This is where the work needs to be done,” Salazar said of immigration policy. “Who better to know how to fix the problem than the people that live with it every day?”
