Vance Attacks Harris to Southern Border

COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance delivered his fiery campaign speech Thursday on immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border as the Trump campaign grinds against Vice President Kamala Harris. the Biden administration’s approach to border security.

In recent days, the Ohio Republican senator has stepped up his attacks on Harris from the trunk. he visited an unfinished section of Arizona border wall — a graphic image intended to highlight Harris and Trump’s campaign juxtaposition documentation.

“Securing the southern border is not difficult, it just takes some common sense,” Vance said after receiving input from members of the border patrol union, a sheriff’s department official and a local farmer.

Vance, addressing the law enforcement officers surrounding him, AND lectern, asked a rhetorical question: “Tell me, has Kamala Harris done anything you asked her to do? Has your border czar done anything you asked her to do? The answer is no.”

A centerpiece of former President Donald Trump’s proposed border policy is a promise to mass deport undocumented immigrants if he is sent back to the White House. He previously pledged to build a wall along the southern border during his first presidential campaign.

Vance explained how the policy had withstood legal challenges while continuing to attack Harris in an interview after her remarks.

“I think the courts have made it clear that the president has full control over border policy, and so there’s a lot we’ll be able to do,” Vance said, referring to cases from Trump’s time in office.

“One of the reasons that ‘border czar’ Kamala Harris has failed so badly here is because she was in charge of coordinating the federal response,” Vance added.

“The courts have said the federal government has a lot of authority in this matter.”

Harris, for her part, has been tasked in 2021 with addressing the “root causes” of migration to the United States from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Republicans have painted a broader picture Harris’ immigration-related duties outside her direct purview, as well as general attacks on the Biden administration over immigration and border policy.

Harris pushed back against opponents’ characterization of her record on border security, boasting about her experience prosecuting transnational drug cartels as California attorney general before a crowd of 10,000 at a rally in Atlanta this week. She also attacked Trump for urging Republicans not to support a bipartisan border security bill.

Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Vance’s comments.

Vance’s early morning trip to the border was planned for a short tour and interview with local law enforcement officials, including members of the Border Patrol union. John Ladd, a local rancher, also attended.

As Vance walked along the barrier, the Biden administration announced that jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan had been returned to U.S. custody following a key conversation with the Russian government.

“It’s great that Evan and Paul Whelan are coming home. I think it really shows that there are a lot of angry people around the world who are worried about Donald Trump coming back to power,” Vance said, offering his initial reaction to initial reports of the exchange.

The senator, who acknowledged in an interview earlier this week that his run for president alongside Trump was not easy, also chimed in on a recurring line from 2021 in which Democratic leaders like Harris have been called “childless cat people.”

“As I said then and as I believe now, I believe we should be more pro-family,” he said.