Vice President Harris visits the U.S.-Mexico border with Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27, 2024.

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DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) — Vice President Harris walked the U.S. border with Mexico on Friday along a section of border wall built during the Obama administration and spoke with border officials about their work.

It was a photo op designed to illustrate that she supports border security – one of voters’ biggest concerns about Harris – and to try to defuse criticism from her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

She later hugged a mother whose son died of a fentanyl overdose and made her most detailed remarks yet about how she would approach border security and immigration reform.

“I will reach across the aisle and use common-sense approaches and new technologies to get the job done,” she said.

Vice President Harris greets members of the U.S. Border Patrol as they visit the U.S. border with Mexico in Douglas, Arizona, September 27, 2024.

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Harris focused most of her remarks on fentanyl smuggling

Most polls show that Trump has an advantage over Harris on border security – although it is not as large as the one he had over President Biden when he was the Democratic nominee. During his time in office, Trump made anti-immigration a central issue and revived it in his campaign for another term.

But Harris said Trump has failed to address the shortage of immigration judges and border agents as well as problems with the asylum system, and he has also focused on separating families and punishing migrants.

Harris reiterated that if she won, she would seek to revive a bipartisan agreement that would have provided more funding to hire more border agents and purchase more fentanyl detection equipment. Harris and Biden took the blame Trump for pressuring his allies in Congress to block this bill.

She said her experience as a prosecutor and attorney general gave her the experience needed to address the fentanyl problem.

“I saw tunnels with walls as smooth as the walls of your living room, complete with lighting and air conditioning, which made it very clear that this was a company that made a whole lot of money from trafficking weapons, drugs, etc deserves people,” she said.

“Fighting transnational criminal organizations and strengthening our borders is nothing new to me and has long been a priority of mine. “I have done this work and will continue to make it a priority if I am elected President of the United States,” Harris said.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, on August 22, 2024.

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Trump says Harris should have done more during Biden’s term

Harris last visited the border in 2021, when she traveled to El Paso, Texas. This time she chose a critical swing state for her journey. Trump narrowly lost Arizona in 2020 and is working hard to win it back. Polls show it’s a very close race.

In a speech in New York before Harris’ trip, Trump attacked Harris for not doing more on border security as vice president, calling her a “border czar” responsible for the surge in migration during Biden’s term.

The nickname “Border Czar” refers to an assignment Biden gave Harris early in her term as vice president to work with Central American leaders on economic and social issues that led tens of thousands of people to seek asylum in the United States.

Harris said her work on the Main causes of migration Results achieved. But she didn’t highlight it in her speech Friday, nor did she talk about it on the campaign trail.

Harris also spoke about immigration laws and regulations

Harris said she would take more steps to address asylum rules – and penalties for people who don’t comply.

“If someone fails to apply for asylum at a legal port of entry and instead crosses our border illegally, they will be denied asylum,” she said. “While we understand that many people are eager to immigrate to the United States, our system must be orderly and safe, and that is my goal.”

Vice President Harris takes the stage at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, on September 27.

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Biden accepted earlier this year executive action to try to implement some of the measures of the failed border security law. According to the White House, illegal border crossings have fallen by more than 50% since then and are currently at their lowest level in four years.

Under Biden’s policy, processing of asylum claims will be suspended if the seven-day average of unauthorized border crossings exceeds 2,500. This suspension will remain in effect until the seven-day average drops to 1,500 per day for at least two weeks.

But Harris would propose rules that would cause the 1,500-per-day limit to drop even further, a campaign official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity before Harris’ remarks. Harris did not elaborate on that suggestion in her speech.

She said she would advocate for pathways to citizenship for “hard-working immigrants who have been here for years,” including people brought to America by their parents as children and farmworkers.

Efforts to address broader immigration laws have repeatedly failed to gain traction in Congress, and Harris did not say what she would do to get around one of the most intractable problems in Washington.