Harris to Visit US–Mexico Border, White House Says

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she walks to a vehicle from Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Sept. 25, 2024. ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S.–Mexico border on Sept. 27 for the first time since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, and for the first time since 2021.

Harris will visit the border town of Douglas, in the key swing state of Arizona, located across the border from Agua Prieta, Mexico, the White House confirmed to The Epoch Times on Sept. 25.

During an Aug. 9 rally in Arizona, Harris said the U.S. immigration system is broken and can be fixed by “comprehensive reform,“ including ”strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”

She has criticized her rival in the presidential race, former President Donald Trump, for opposing the bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.

Harris has vowed to resurrect the legislation if elected.

President Joe Biden announced in March 2021 that he was tasking the vice president with helping address the “root causes for the migration that we’ve been seeing.”

Since then, Harris has made one trip to the southern border as vice president in June 2021 when she visited a migrant processing center in El Paso, Texas.

That visit came after the vice president drew criticism during an appearance on NBC News during which she was asked by host Lester Holt why she had not yet visited the southern border amid a worsening illegal immigration situation.

Harris responded: “And I haven’t been to Europe. I don’t understand the point that you’re making.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Harris campaign for further comment.

Trump, Vance Visit Border

Trump has visited the border multiple times since announcing his presidential campaign.

The Republican presidential candidate toured the border wall at Cochise County, Arizona, in August, alongside the county’s sheriff, the head of the Border Patrol union, and mothers of children who were killed in cases in which the suspects were illegal immigrants.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), has also visited the border wall in Arizona and has used such visits to call for tougher border policies, including the reinstatement of the Remain in Mexico immigration policy and an end to the “catch and release” of illegal immigrants.

Former President Donald Trump (R) with Patty Morin (L), mother of Rachel Morin, a murder victim, during a visit to the border wall at Montezuma Pass, Cochise County, Ariz., on Aug. 22, 2024. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

A recent New York Times/Siena poll of voters in Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina showed that 54 percent of respondents believe Trump would do a better job at handling the border crisis, while 43 percent said that Harris would.

The planned visit to Douglas comes as apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the U.S. southern border rose to 107,503 in August, up from 104,101 in July, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Border Patrol arrested 58,038 illegal immigrants between ports of entry along the southwest border in August, compared with 56,399 the previous month. However, that is a 68 percent drop from the 181,054 arrests made in August 2023, CBP data show.

CBP’s Office of Field Operations recorded 49,465 apprehensions in August, up from 47,702 in July.

Apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the southwest border hit an all-time high of 301,982 in December 2023.

Aldgra Fredly, Lawrence Wilson, Jacob Burg, Stephen Katte, and Reuters contributed to this report.