US Vice President Kamala Harris vowed on Friday to enhance border security. She urged a fresh battle against illegal immigration and the fentanyl crisis. Harris slammed ex-President Donald Trump for blocking a bipartisan border security bill that had support in Congress.
“Last December, I helped raise overtime pay for border agents,” Harris said. Harris said she strongly supported a comprehensive border security bill written by a bipartisan group of senators, which included some of the most conservative members of Congress. Harris said that bill was “the strongest security bill we have seen in decades.”
The proposed bill targeted several critical issues involving the US southern border. It would have hired 1,500 additional border agents and officers. Furthermore, it proposes to install 100 inspection machines detecting fentanyl. The bill further expanded the number of immigration judges and asylum officers. Harris explained that this would help hasten the removal of those who come here illegally.
Despite the support of the Border Patrol Union, Trump derailed the bill. “Donald Trump tanked it,” Harris charged. “He called friends in Congress and said to stop the bill because he prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing it.” Because of the result of Trump’s actions, Harris argued, the border is less secure today.
“The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games,” she said. Harris committed that when elected as President, she would revive the bill and sign it into law. “Even though Donald Trump tried to sabotage the border security bill, I pledge to bring it back and proudly sign it.”
This comes at a time when there is renewed debate over border security. The Trump administration has again won at the Supreme Court to allow the use of $2.5 billion from the Department of Defense to fund parts of a wall along the border. Congress has refused to finance it, but a decision by the Supreme Court has now increased partisan disagreements over the best way to secure the border.
ANI
