Border politics heat up in White House race: Where does Harris stand on immigration?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The invitation to a backyard barbecue at the vice president's mansion landed in Frankie Miranda's inbox two weeks ago.

Nationally recognized Latino community leaders, including Miranda who heads the Hispanic Federation, were invited to Kamala Harris' official residence for a “celebration” of their work. As President Joe Biden's top booster, Harris needed to help court Latino voters, and a barbecue was a low-key way to do just that.

Then Biden dropped out. With Harris closing in on the Democratic nomination, the stakes have risen for her and so have the expectations among more than a handful of Latino leaders who confirmed the event. They want to know, among other things, where she stands on the issues their community cares about, including one of the thorniest in the campaign: immigration.

“People will expect a different type of program for an event at the vice president’s house versus an event with the presumptive Democratic nominee,” said Miranda, who is planning to attend the Thursday dinner. The Vice President's office declined to confirm the event.

But as she shifts into her new role as presidential candidate, Harris is already facing scrutiny on immigration from political opponents and allies alike.

Even before she locked in the delegates required to secure the Democratic nomination, Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail began slamming her as a failed "border czar" who did little to curb record levels of illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border. (Harris never held that title, nor did she have responsibility for migration at the southern border.)

Polls show Latino voters, who were evenly split earlier this month between leaning for president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump, are as concerned about the economy, health care, education and other core issues as every other group. And like many other Americans, Latino voters have grown increasingly concerned about immigration.

Community organizers say that with more than 20 million Latino immigrants in the country, the issue is often a personal one.

A handful of those invited to Thursday's barbecue told USA TODAY that they and their communities want answers about how a Harris administration would handle topics of special interest to Latinos.

How will she calm the tension between Latino immigrants who have lived here for years and those just arriving at the U.S. border?

Can she secure the border and prevent new humanitarian crises? How will she toe the line between the demands of progressives in her party and those occupying what's left of the middle ground?

The Biden administration “made attempts to work on more humane immigration policy and more conservative policy – and it’s failed because Congress was not willing to work with the administration,” Miranda said. “We hope Kamala Harris has learned how to tackle an issue that is so important for our community.”

Is Kamala Harris the 'border czar'?

Early in his administration, President Joe Biden gave Harris the same portfolio he had as vice president under Barack Obama. He tasked Harris with shoring up diplomatic relationships south of the border, with Mexico and Central America countries. The goal was to create a “root causes” strategy that addressed the reasons why people flee their home countries for the U.S. border.

If there is a U.S. "border czar," it's the cabinet secretary in charge of border security. Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas has held that role since 2021.

Instead, Harris "was given a vague task that very quickly got redefined as a diplomatic effort to help Central America address the root causes of people fleeing," said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America. "She really ran away from any sense that she would be dealing with the border or any effects of immigration policy."

The long-term, root causes approach didn’t show results before the patterns of migration shifted drastically.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 8.4 million migrant encounters at the Southwest border during the Biden administration through June – a record for any presidential administration and one that Harris will likely have to defend.

Venezuelans began heading in large numbers to the U.S. in 2022. People also began arriving at the U.S. southern border from a more diverse group of nations, from China to Ecuador, provoking repeated humanitarian crises in border communities.

Republicans blamed Biden for his so-called "open-border policies." The administration pointed to global upheaval and historic migration beyond its control.

Unlawful immigration at the U.S. southern border didn't begin with Biden but it did intensify. Migrant apprehensions had begun rising during the Trump administration, before COVID-19 struck and curtailed travel globally.

Roughly 14% of the country’s total population is foreign-born today, just shy of the record set more than a century ago. Nearly half of the immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 1965 and 2022 came from Latin America, according to a Pew Research analysis of U.S. Census data.

As the world emerged from the pandemic and the economic ruin it provoked in many countries, migration to the U.S. border surged.

Yet, "migration is not coming overwhelmingly any longer from the countries that were the focus of the root causes strategy," said Anita Isaacs, a political scientist at Haverford College who studies U.S.-Latin American relations. "I think the root causes strategy does deserve some credit for that."

Polls show immigration is a rising concern for Latino voters

While pocketbook issues – inflation, cost of living, job security – consistently rank as top priorities for Latino voters, immigration is a rising concern, according to a poll of Latino voters by UnidosUS published in June.

Immigration and the border rose from the No. 9 slot two years ago to No. 3 this year, among the concerns ranked by Latino voters.

Providing pathways to citizenship for undocumented people living in the United States is a top priority for Latino voters according to the poll, said Clarissa Martinez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS.

Martinez De Castro also got an invitation to the barbecue at Harris' residence and plans to attend.

Although leaders said Thursday's event is focused on celebrating the achievements of Latino community organizers, Martinez De Castro said Harris has an opportunity to articulate a message with voters on how she looks to approach immigration.

Nearly a third of poll respondents cited increasing border security and increasing legal immigration among their top three priorities – an indication of the political tension Harris will face in courting Latino voters.

Finishing the border wall and deporting all undocumented immigrants – which are included in the plans Trump, the Republican nominee, has outlined for a second term – were among the lowest priorities for respondents, the poll found.

Martinez said there is “an incessant dribble of toxicity coming” from Trump and other Republicans, referring to calls for a "mass deportation" program and incendiary rhetoric around immigrants.

“The question is: Will Harris lean in to that mantle and speak for that majority of voters who may not see themselves in the more toxic representation of the issue that is dominating the airwaves at the moment?” she said.

Biden-Harris' achievements, failings on immigration

For more than 30 years, in the absence of substantive congressional action on immigration, consecutive presidential administrations have created policies to deter or manage the inflow of migrants. They've built border fencing, tried pushing migrants back to Mexico and restricted access to asylum. Any decline in migration has often been short-lived.

The number of migrants arriving at the southern border declined sharply after hitting a one-month record in December.

Analysts credit two strategies: A crackdown by Mexico, under pressure by the Biden administration, and Biden's June 5 executive order sharply restricting access to the U.S. asylum system at the southern border.

"That’s a big one-two punch," said Isacson at the Washington Office on Latin America. "The other is the offer to help Panama deport migrants."

"They’ve found a short-term formula," he said. "The last 10 years have shown that smugglers will figure it out." He predicts the migrants will find a way to come again.

Through her root causes work, Harris has largely engaged with countries in the so-called Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ? alongside the private sector, generating more than $5.2 billion in investments into the region to keep people in their home countries.

The investments have connected more than 4.5 million people to the internet and brought more than 2.5 million into the formal financial system.

Most recently, in March, Harris hosted Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo at the White House, where she announced new commitments, including a $50 million initiative to bolster the rule of law in security and justice institutions through a partnership between the Department of State and Guatemala.

'Alignment on policy priorities'

The guests for Thursday's barbecue includes an A-list of leaders from some of the country's most storied and active Latino community organizations, from LULAC to get-out-the-vote organizations like Mi Familia Vota.

LULAC President Roman Palomares wrote the vice president a note declining the invitation due to a scheduling conflict. But the organization's CEO will attend. Palomares said he hopes the vice president will address an issue that is dividing his community and the nation.

"We’re waiting to see what her platform is going to be," he said. "She and Biden did a lot for the Hispanic community. We’re hoping she continues in that same vein. But we're also looking at how we can resolve some of this immigration crisis. It’s tearing us apart."

Héctor Sánchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, believes Harris must be vocal about her record on advocating for immigrants.

Plus, she's not Trump, who he thinks does not have the best interest of Latinos at heart.

“One is very clear, almost a full alignment," he said. "Trump is a major enemy. Enemy number one of the Latino community.”

Sánchez said Harris has championed efforts to investigate Trump's family separation policy and also urged Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, holders of temporary protected status, and essential workers.

“We need to see that continuation of real solutions for the nation,” he said. “We are a nation that is very hypocritical when it comes to immigration. We have an addiction to cheap, exploitable labor, and the entire nation benefits from the hard work of immigrants."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris under pressure on border security in White House bid