Harris to drum up loud drums on Arizona’s border message

Vice President Harris will call for tighter border security measures as part of her campaign stop in Douglas, Arizona, while she will again attack former President Trump for his role in scuttling a bipartisan border deal.

In her first major border speech as a Democratic presidential candidate, Harris plans to highlight her credentials in fighting transnational crime as California’s attorney general, a senior campaign official said.

She will focus on border security and try to leverage a formula that has worked well for Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who is running for the state’s open Senate seat.

“(Hispanics in Arizona) like what Gallego says, and I think it will work for her. How long, I don’t know, right? But she goes to those states, like Arizona, where you’ll find the people there — maybe not nationally, it might not work 100 percent for her — but she gets good reviews from Hispanics in Arizona,” she said. Moses Mercado, a Democratic strategist.

Gallego is well ahead of Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake in most polls, while Harris is at best neck-and-neck with Trump in Arizona.

The focus on border security, rather than improving the immigration system, is a calculated risk for Harris.

Although a large majority of Hispanic voters have historically supported comprehensive immigration reform, voters in border states have generally been more receptive to border security proposals.

And Harris is expected to focus her border comments on cross-border crime, in part because the number of unauthorized border crossings is at its lowest point since President Biden took office.

“It’s undoubtedly a powerful issue against Democrats, but (Republicans are) not working on it in (border) states right now, and I think that’s because people aren’t seeing it. If you live in McAllen, Texas or Brownsville, is that a problem? Yes. Is it a problem now? They don’t see it. They saw it before, but not anymore,” said Mercado.

The relative silence at border crossings has fueled other culture war issues, but also provided space for Democrats like Harris and Gallego to bolster their reputations on border enforcement without alienating immigration advocates.

And Harris is expected to again harass Trump over his role in derailing the Senate border deal, which would have destroyed asylum and which has been fiercely opposed by both advocacy groups and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The senior campaign official said in an email that Harris plans to say: “The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games.”

While Harris’ support for that deal could be a burden on her left flank, it has proven to be an effective tool in portraying Trump as opportunistic, even on his signature issue.

“It’s either, ‘We’re going to crack down on the border, that’s one side of it, we’re going to try to get immigration right.’ But you know, whatever the nuances are, the alternative is ‘we deport everyone if we win,’” Mercado said.

“Where are the groups going? It’s hard for them to say to their people, ‘Yes, we’re angry with Gallego and the vice president, so let’s go vote for the guy who’s going to deport us all.’