Vice President Kamala Harris has a golden opportunity to demonstrate she is ready to govern from the middle by frankly addressing her role in the Biden administration’s ineffective immigration policies. She should seize the moment before it slips away.
In the whirlwind weeks since she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has failed to significantly speak to border issues, let alone reveal what her policies might be and how they may be different from President Joe Biden’s.
Her public comments have centered more generally on her base and on preserving abortion rights, an issue that has played well with Democrats and moderates amid conservative overreach throughout the country.
Because Harris didn’t have to debate immigration concerns with any primary opponents, she hasn’t been pressed to defend her record after Biden appointed her in 2021 to examine the root causes of the surge in migration from Central America.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders from former President Donald Trump to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have been relentless in their criticism of Harris, repeatedly referring to her as Biden’s failed “border czar.” In a recent editorial, we adopted similar language, calling Harris the “immigration czar,” a term the Biden administration didn’t use despite giving her major strategic oversight.
Harris might not have been a “czar,” and we regret adopting what has become unhelpful partisan language. But there is no question she had a key role centered on one of the administration’s most serious policy weaknesses.
She should signal, strongly and directly, that even as the number of illegal crossings has fallen in the last few months, she understands that border security remains a problem that can’t be ignored.
Harris missed a good chance to do just that recently when she was in Houston and shared her vision for the future in addressing the American Federation of Teachers union. Why not make the easy trip from there to the border to announce renewed support for sweeping immigration reform and to show she understands that most Americans want a secure border?
Last year we examined the root causes of migration in our series The Unraveling of Latin America, something that went much deeper than Harris’ 20-page strategic report on the same subject. We know that the U.S. approach to answering the immigration crisis must strike the right balance between border security measures and smart diplomacy with our southern neighbors. We’d like to hear more from Harris on how she’d do that.
Harris must not shrink from the criticism about the border. She must rise to it and demonstrate that she shares the nation’s concern about illegal immigration, toning down the GOP rhetoric and offering solutions with bipartisan appeal.
