At the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump and Harris’s data reflect the national mood of less immigration, not more

In late July 2024, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris released a campaign ad about the U.S.-Mexico border that read like something out of the Republican playbook.

In the ad, Harris said that as president she would expand the number of Border Patrol agents, stop human traffickers and prosecute transnational gangs — some of the things Republican candidate Donald Trump has also pledged to do if elected.

Harris’ shift to the right, which her campaign strategists see as a good political move, reflects the more anti-immigrant direction the U.S. public has been taking in recent years. According to a July 2024 Gallup Poll, 55% of Americans want greater restrictions on immigration, marking the first time in nearly two decades that a majority of Americans supported such restrictions.

These anti-immigrant attitudes are partly due to exaggerated claims by conservative politicians and right-wing commentators that the management of the U.S.-Mexico border is a disaster and that the government is endangering public safety by allowing violent criminals to cross the border into the U.S.

Worse still, during the September 10, 2024 presidential debate, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump falsely accused Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, of eating dogs and cats.

As someone who has worked extensively with asylum seekers at the border since 2019, I see clear differences between Harris and Trump on immigration.

During his time in office, Trump implemented restrictive immigration measures at the border that virtually halted asylum. He also oversaw the controversial 2018 child separation policy and attempted to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the Obama-era federal program that protects hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from being deported.

While Harris’ record on immigration isn’t as extensive as Trump’s, as a senator and U.S. vice president she has shown a willingness to impose stricter regulations at the border while continuing to support a path to citizenship for “Dreamers” and undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens.

Trump’s extremist rhetoric and policies

With border security now his top priority, Trump may take even more draconian measures than he did during his first term, such as further restricting the asylum system and deporting as many as 20 million illegal immigrants.

Perhaps Trump’s most controversial action during his first term was his 2018 child separation policy, which resulted in more than 5,000 children being separated from their parents after being apprehended at the border. The move sparked nationwide protests and international condemnation. As of May 2024, approximately 1,400 children remained separated from their families.

Trump was not deterred by this and implemented other restrictive measures.

Trump signed an executive order in 2019, launching the Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as the Remain in Mexico policy. The order required asylum seekers arriving at the U.S. border to be sent back to Mexico while their claims were processed. The program remained in effect until the end of Trump’s presidency in 2020 and resulted in 81,000 expulsions.

Trump also used Title 42 restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic to expel immigrants without visas quickly to contain the pandemic, with no exceptions. In the first seven months, nearly 200,000 migrants were expelled.

Notably, the use of violent rhetoric against migrants has increased dramatically during Trump’s rise to GOP leadership. In his first term, Trump and his officials discussed shooting migrants crossing the border in the leg. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, one of his key allies, said the reason officials there don’t shoot migrants is because they would be prosecuted by the federal government.

Trump has also pledged to deploy the US military to Mexico to fight drug cartels.

Harris’ balancing act

As a U.S. senator in 2019, Harris voted against an amendment against sanctuary governments that would have allowed local police to cooperate with federal immigration officials and potentially deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

She was also the first sponsor of legislation that would limit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions against those caring for unaccompanied minors. But as California’s attorney general, Harris did support turning over to immigration authorities minors living in the U.S. illegally who had committed crimes.

As vice president, Harris appears to favor a more restrictive approach, similar to Biden’s June 4, 2024, executive order that limited the number of asylum seekers allowed to cross the border.

She also supports the CBP One app system created by the Biden administration in early 2023.

This process gives asylum seekers the chance to meet with an immigration officer, but often requires them to wait in Mexico for months under dangerous conditions.

Harris has also been a consistent voice on the need to support DACA. The Biden administration expanded health care coverage for DACA recipients in 2024, giving them access to insurance through the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

If elected, Harris would likely extend another 2024 Biden executive order that created a legal path to citizenship for immigrants who are not legally allowed to be in the U.S. but are married to U.S. citizens.

Trump, on the other hand, has already criticized the policy and said he would end it if elected.

The Biden-Harris administration also had a nuanced record on the border and deportations, deporting nearly as many immigrants living in the U.S. without legal authorization as Trump.

By June 2024, the number of deportations since the start of the Biden administration in January 2021 had already reached 4.4 million. At the same time, these higher numbers reflect the fact that more people are coming to the border because of the increased opportunity for entry.

During the first three years of Biden’s presidency, more than 1 million migrants at the border were granted temporary humanitarian release, allowing them to remain in the U.S. while they wait for their asylum processes to be processed.

The reality of immigration

Immigration is often portrayed by Republicans as a clear and present threat, while Democrats see it as an act of compassion.

However, in the increasingly anti-immigration environment, it is rare to hear that increased immigration under the Biden-Harris administration has been a major factor in US economic growth.

Many economists have also argued that working-class immigrants coming from across the border have helped reduce inflation. I believe the U.S. needs more immigrants, not fewer, and that hardline positions and policies are damaging to our society and economy.

While Trump’s tough stance on immigrants, both at the border and inside the country, is well-known, Harris’ record shows a more balanced approach, offering support to at least some of the immigrants in the U.S. illegally and those seeking asylum.