Kamala Harris visits the US-Mexico border amid Republican criticism of immigration

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made a rare trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, drawing Republican criticism over her stance on immigration.

Harris, who last visited the border in 2021, directed sharp remarks at former President Donald Trump, accusing him of providing “scapegoats instead of solutions” and “rhetoric instead of results.”

Earlier in the day, Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, claimed Harris was “being murdered” on immigration and backed “the worst bill ever written” on border security. Polls show more Americans trust Trump over Harris when it comes to dealing with border issues and illegal immigration.

During her visit to Cochise County, a conservative area of Arizona and a hotspot for record-high border crossings last fall, Harris inspected the border wall and met with local officials. At a campaign event in Douglas, she argued that Trump “did nothing to fix our broken immigration system” during his presidency and accused Republicans of presenting a “false choice” between security and a humane immigration system.

“We can and must do both,” Harris told his supporters, pledging to strengthen asylum laws passed by President Joe Biden earlier this year and pushing for a bipartisan border security bill that Trump had opposed.

However, many local residents remain skeptical. Jim Chilton, a farmer whose land is near the border, expressed his doubts. “We have had an open borders policy and now we see what that really means,” he said. Chilton, a Trump supporter, has long criticized the Biden administration’s approach, citing the thousands of undocumented immigrants who cross his property every year. His concerns echo those of many in conservative border communities.

While Harris’ visit highlighted efforts to enforce border security, she also drew criticism from some Democrats.

Gail Kochorek, a volunteer who provides assistance to migrants waiting to cross the border, expressed her disappointment with Harris’ recent promises to crack down on migration. However, Kochorek reaffirmed her support for Harris over Trump, noting that despite her concerns, she believed in the Democratic candidate’s broader vision on immigration reform.

At a rally in Michigan, Trump downplayed Harris’ visit, calling it a “drop-in” and “photo op.” He reiterated his own plans to complete the border wall and, if re-elected, carry out the largest mass deportation in American history, while dismissing Harris’s proposals as ineffective.

Harris has faced significant challenges on immigration during her vice presidency. Although she was not directly responsible for border policy, she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, especially from countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Its strategy aimed to tackle systemic issues such as poverty, corruption and violence in the region, but the success of this approach is still uncertain.

As she campaigns for the 2024 elections, Harris is relying on her experience as a prosecutor in California, where she tackled transnational crime and drug cartels. She emphasizes that her administration will balance humanitarian concerns with border security, a message she hopes will resonate with voters on both sides of the political spectrum.

Yet convincing the public of her vision remains one of her biggest challenges as immigration politics continues to move further to the right.