Harris visits US-Mexico border as she looks to challenge Trump on immigration

Vice President Kamala Harris is making her first visit to the US-Mexico border as a candidate for the presidency in an effort to challenge Donald Trump on what has been his signature issue since he first ran for president in 2015.

Harris arrived Friday afternoon at a site along the US border wall in Douglas, Arizona, where she was greeted by a pair of uniformed officers from the US Border Patrol.

The two officers and the vice president chatted as they walked along a path next to the section of the wall, which was constructed during the Obama administration and is not part of the wall built during Trump’s presidency.

Asked what she’d learned from the Border Patrol officials, Harris replied: “They’ve got a tough job and they need, rightly, support to do their job. They are very dedicated. And so I’m here to talk with them about what we can continue to do to support them. And also thank them for the hard work they do.” 

She is also set to receive a briefing from Customs and Border Protection officials in Texas on US efforts to prevent the introduction of fentanyl into the United States. Harris is later expected to announce support for further restricting how people can claim asylum if they enter the country unlawfully between ports of entry along the border with Mexico.

Illegal immigration — particularly from non-white countries — has been a key issue for Trump, who rarely makes a public appearance without engaging in incendiary rhetoric on the subject that often crosses a line into outright racism.

Trump and his Republican allies have sought to attack Harris for the Biden administration’s record on migration and have attempted to brand her as a “failed border czar” because of her work handling diplomacy with countries