Will Harris continue Biden’s border policy?

Vice President Harris unveiled her policy positions on her website’s issues page a few weeks after being nominated as the Democratic presidential nominee, but the website avoids explaining what she plans to do on immigration and the border.

Harris’ campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday and Friday on whether she would continue Biden’s four major actions at the border or go beyond them to implement a more progressive agenda, given her history of supporting a 50% reduction in immigrant detention among other progressive immigration initiatives.

Biden’s first actions after taking office followed through on his campaign promises during the 2020 election. He immediately rescinded the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum seekers to live in Mexico during court proceedings rather than be released into the United States.

Days after taking office, Biden suspended all deportations, including those of criminals living in the United States illegally who have been ordered deported by federal judges.

Biden also suspended more than 350 miles of construction of the remaining border wall passed by Congress under the Trump administration. Within months, Biden officially ended funding, leaving countless rusting steel beams along the southern border, uninstalled.

One of Biden’s most notable executive actions came in early June of this year, when the White House cracked down on illegal immigration — three and a half years after record numbers of illegal immigrants were encountered at the border.

In the first week of June, after six months of diplomatic talks with his Mexican counterparts to deter migrants from entering the United States through the country, Biden took a new executive action.

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

Harris has presented her campaign as a “new path forward,” without acknowledging what her boss has done in recent years, leaving voters to assume that her path will be different and “new.”

The campaign website largely focuses on Harris’ work as a San Francisco district attorney, California senator and vice president, not her plans for the White House, if elected.

The website’s plan for how Harris will “SECURE OUR BORDERS AND FIX OUR BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM” says she believes in “strong, smart solutions” to secure the border, keep communities safe and reform our broken immigration system.

“As Vice President, she championed the bipartisan Border Security Act, the strongest reform in decades,” the issues page states. “The legislation would have deployed more detection technology to intercept fentanyl and other drugs and added 1,500 border security agents to protect our border.”

Republicans have criticized the addition of additional agents, saying it is only intended to make it easier to apprehend and release illegal immigrants in the United States, rather than deter or deport them. Harris has also declined to say how she would address the rise in illegal immigration.

“As president, she will reinstate the 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 stronger border security and an earned path to citizenship,” Page said, echoing comments she made in a campaign video.

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Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) spoke with the Washington Examiner in August and said the bill he worked on with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) last winter was unlikely to be revived next year because it addressed a specific time and problem, different from current needs.

Harris did not indicate how she would establish an “earned” path for illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents with the ultimate goal of becoming citizens.