- Kamala Harris in September visited the border for the primary time as a 2024 presidential candidate.
- Harris has crafted her messaging on immigration to counter Trump’s long-standing border edge.
- However her deal with in Arizona wasn’t solely about successful over voters within the Southwest.
Immigration is among the defining problems with the 2024 election.
So it was no shock that Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday visited the US-Mexico border in Arizona, some of the hotly-contested swing states within the nation this 12 months.
Harris’ go to to Douglas — a border metropolis of about 16,000 folks — was notable as a result of it was her first go to to the southern border for the reason that launch of her Democratic presidential marketing campaign in late July.
Each Harris and former President Donald Trump are combating to win Arizona by rallying the state’s suburban independents and its massive Latino inhabitants.
Harris is attacking Trump’s function in tanking a bipartisan congressional immigration invoice that may have overhauled the asylum system and employed extra border patrol brokers. And Trump needs to tie Harris to the document ranges of migrant apprehensions that at numerous factors all through President Joe Biden’s time period have severely overwhelmed border patrol brokers.
However Harris’ remarks in Douglas weren’t simply geared toward successful Arizona.
She’s out to reassure swing voters and independents throughout the nation that she’s the candidate who’ll ship on the problem.
“Stopping transnational felony organizations and strengthening our border shouldn’t be new to me, and it’s a lengthy standing precedence of mine,” she mentioned throughout her deal with in Cochise County, a conservative-leaning jurisdiction the place Trump is poised to carry out nicely in November.
Nevertheless, even in battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — removed from the southern border — voters cite immigration as a high situation. And in rural and exurban areas the place Democratic candidates have to chop into GOP margins to win statewide, Harris’ messaging can be essential as she competes alongside Trump to succeed in the 270-electoral vote threshold for victory.
Border safety can be key — however particularly amongst independents
Within the newest New York Instances/Siena Faculty ballot of possible voters in Michigan, immigration was the third most essential situation for respondents, with 14% citing it as their high situation. (The financial system was the highest situation amongst possible voters total, with 24% citing it as their most essential situation, adopted by abortion at 17%.)
Amongst rural and small city voters, immigration (at 16%) ranked as their second most essential situation, with solely the financial system popping out forward.
And amongst independents, immigration and abortion had been tied (at 13% every) as their second most essential situation. The financial system was cited by 25% of possible Michigan independents as their high situation.
The findings are related in Wisconsin, the place the financial system is the highest situation (28%) amongst possible voters, adopted by abortion (19%) and immigration (12%).
Whereas Harris is poised to carry out strongly within the Milwaukee and Detroit metropolitan areas, rural margins in Wisconsin and Michigan can be vital. In these Midwestern states — in contrast to the South — there stay a large contingent of rural voters who proceed to vote Democratic on the presidential degree.
OLIVIER TOURON/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Harris’ remarks on border safety had been very a lot geared toward these kind of voters, as many would like a bipartisan method to an immigration overhaul whereas nonetheless imposing present legal guidelines. And by leaning into her expertise as California’s lawyer common and coping with the prosecution of drug cartels, she is looking for to show the web page from Biden’s dealing with of the problem, which has been extensively panned by voters in recent times.
“I reject the false selection that means we should both select between securing our border or making a system of immigration that’s protected, orderly and humane,” Harris mentioned throughout her Friday speech. “We will and we should do each.”
Trump is not ceding floor on the problem
Trump’s 2016 candidacy was pushed by his hardline stance on immigration and his 2024 marketing campaign has largely caught to the identical messaging.
The largest exception is that Trump used Biden’s immigration stumbles to construct a major benefit over the president on the problem. However that was earlier than Biden stepped apart because the presumptive nominee and Harris turned the Democratic Occasion’s standard-bearer.
Harris has needled Trump on the problem in a approach that Biden was not in a position to do successfully, because the president on the time was additionally coping with excessive apprehensions on the border and migrants being despatched by Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott to cities like Chicago and New York.
Harris accused Trump on Friday of “taking part in political video games” with border safety and emphasised her dedication to tackling fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking ought to she win the White Home.
Trump has retained a major polling edge on the problem — however that lead has been narrowing.
A newly launched NBC Information ballot confirmed Trump with a 21-point lead (54% to 33%) over Harris amongst registered voters relating to border safety. It was the previous president’s greatest benefit on any of the most important points that had been polled, together with the financial system.
Nevertheless, Trump’s lead on immigration points is down from a 35-point benefit that he beforehand had over Biden in an NBC Information survey carried out in late January.
Trump has been extremely vital of Harris’ efforts to blast his border safety stances. Prematurely of the vp’s journey to Arizona, he once more sought to tie her to Biden.
“She ought to return to the White Home and inform the president to shut the border,” the previous president mentioned.
With a bit of over a month earlier than the final election, Trump’s benefit seems to be slipping, which may very well be an unlimited increase to Harris in Georgia and North Carolina — the place victories by the vp would very possible ship her to the Oval Workplace.
