Will Harris continue Biden’s border policies?

Vice President Harris outlined her policy positions on a website weeks after becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, but the website does not make clear what actions she intends to take on immigration and the border.

Harris’ campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday and Friday on whether she would continue the four major actions Biden has taken at the border or go further and implement a more progressive agenda, given her past support for a 50 percent reduction in immigrant apprehensions and other progressive immigration initiatives.

Biden’s first actions upon taking office were consistent with campaign promises made in the 2020 election. He immediately reversed the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to live in Mexico through legal proceedings rather than be released to the United States.

Within days of taking office, Biden halted all deportations, including those of criminals illegally present in the United States who had been ordered removed by federal judges.

Biden also suspended more than 350 miles of remaining border wall construction that Congress passed during the Trump administration. Within months, Biden formally halted funding, leaving countless pieces of steel beams rusting along the southern border, uninstalled.

One of Biden’s most significant executive actions came in early June of this year, when the White House took decisive action against illegal immigration — three and a half years after record high numbers of illegal immigrants were reported at the border.

In early June, after six months of diplomatic talks with Mexican counterparts aimed at stopping migrants from crossing through Mexico into the U.S., Biden issued a new executive order.

Biden has invoked his authority to bar migrants from seeking asylum if they are stopped by federal police outside a port of entry — primarily those who cross the border from Mexico on foot or by swimming.

Harris touted her campaign as a “new way forward,” underestimating what her boss had done over the past few years, leaving voters to assume her way would be different and “new.”

The campaign website is largely devoted to Harris’ work as San Francisco district attorney, California senator and vice president, rather than her plans for the White House if elected.

Harris’s website outline of her work to “SECURING OUR BORDER AND FIXING OUR BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM” states that she believes in “tough, smart solutions” to secure our borders, keep communities safe and reform our broken immigration system.

“As vice president, she supported a bipartisan border security bill, the strongest reform in decades,” the issues page says. “The legislation would deploy more detection technology to intercept fentanyl and other drugs and add 1,500 border agents to protect our border.”

Republicans have criticized the addition of more agents, saying it simply makes it easier to arrest and release illegal immigrants into the U.S. rather than deter or remove them. Harris has also declined to say how she would deal with the increase in illegal immigration.

“As president, she will reintroduce a bipartisan border security bill and sign it into law. At the same time, she knows our immigration system is broken and needs comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned path to citizenship,” the page says, echoing comments she made in a campaign video.

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Senator James Lankford (R-OK) spoke with Washington Examiner in August and said the bill, which he worked on with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) last winter, likely would not be revived next year because it addressed a time and problem different than current needs.

Harris did not indicate how she intended to implement an “earned” path for undocumented immigrants to become permanent residents with the ultimate goal of citizenship.