Recent campaign advertisements by Vice President Kamala Harris have sparked controversy due to the inclusion of images of former President Donald Trump’s border wall. This has provoked queries regarding her stance on immigration and border security, especially in light of her previous strong opposition to the wall.
The Erin Burnett OutFront segment on CNN on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, underscored the seeming discrepancy between Harris’ past remarks and her current campaign rhetoric. CNN’s KFile senior editor Andrew Kaczynski discovered 50 instances where Harris opposed Trump’s border wall, making its presence in her campaign material now quite notable.
In Harris’ 2019 book, “The Truths We Hold,” she expressed strong disapproval of the border wall. She suggested that the wall not only lacks utility but is a monument opposing not just her values, but also the fundamental values that the United States was built on. According to Harris, the wall sends a symbolic message to the world, “KEEP OUT.”
During a public event in 2019, Harris characterized the border wall as a “vanity project” for Trump and stated that he was creating “a national crisis around his big distraction.” She consistently depicted the wall as a waste of taxpayer money and an ineffective approach to border security issues.
Yet, a section of this condemned wall features in Harris’ recent campaign advertisement. Kaczynski highlighted that this section of the wall was actually built during Trump’s administration.
The apparent shift in Harris’ viewpoint appears to be indicative of a larger change in her approach to immigration policy. As Vice President, Harris has taken a more moderate stance on border security issues, supporting tougher border security measures and policies that make it harder for migrants to seek asylum. This is in stark contrast to her earlier commitment to “honor the process” of asylum and safeguard vulnerable migrants.
The Biden administration has continued some border wall construction and introduced policies that limit asylum. Harris, notably, has yet to publicly comment on these actions, which seem to contradict her past stances.
Political opponents have been quick to notice this apparent shift in Harris’ position. The Trump campaign, for instance, has capitalized on this issue, with former senior advisor Jason Miller branding Harris’ change in position as “total bulls—.”
However, it’s worth noting that Harris has not explicitly announced a shift in her position on the border wall. The controversy largely arises from her campaign’s visual narratives and her support for a bipartisan border security bill that proposed using some funds previously allocated for the border wall during the Trump administration.
This bill, which did not pass the Senate, was a compromise that proposed various border security measures beyond wall funding. It also suggested provisions for more asylum lawyers and judges, and the authority to close the border if migrant crossings exceeded a certain limit.
The Harris campaign has been portraying her as a “border state prosecutor” and emphasizing her support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. This reshaping of Harris’ image on border issues mirrors the shifting political landscape on immigration, significantly influenced by Trump’s policies.
As the 2024 election nears, Harris’ use of border wall imagery in her campaign ads seems to be an attempt to bolster her image on border security issues. Nonetheless, this strategy has exposed her to criticism from both political spectrums.