Vice President Harris: “We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions.”
Tonight, in an address at the U.S.-Mexico border in Douglas, Arizona, Vice President Kamala Harris called for tougher security measures at the border and directly called out Donald Trump’s failures as President to secure the border and his deliberate actions to block bipartisan legislation to do so.
She slammed Donald Trump for wanting to run on a problem instead of fix a problem, saying, “The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games.”
As a former border state Attorney General, Kamala Harris understands what security and enforcing the law at the border means, prosecuting transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. She unveiled her approach to “target the entire global fentanyl supply chain” to “significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals from China” and protect Americans from the “unimaginable destruction” it is causing.
“On behalf of all communities across our nation that want to see these problems solved I say: We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead. We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions. Or rhetoric instead of results, said Vice President Harris. “As your President, I will: Protect our nation’s sovereignty. Secure our border. And work to fix our broken system of immigration.”
Below is a transcript of Harris’ remarks, as prepared for delivery:
Good afternoon. It is good to be back in Arizona.
Theresa: Thank you for that introduction.
I am so sorry for what you and your family have endured.
And thank you for sharing memories of Jacob with us.
And tragically, too many families know your pain, because fentanyl is causing unimaginable destruction across our country.
Which is one reason why we are all here today.
And joining us are extraordinary elected officials.
Including my friend, Senator Mark Kelly.
Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Mayor Don Huish.
Thank you to all the elected and community leaders here today.
Before I begin, I will say a few words about Hurricane Helene.
I spoke this morning with FEMA Administrator Criswell.
And President Biden and I will continue to monitor the situation closely.
We have mobilized more than 1,500 federal personnel to support those communities that have been impacted.
We have: food, water, and generators ready for deployment.
And we are working to restore power for the millions of Americans currently experiencing outages.
This storm continues to be dangerous and deadly. With lives lost.
And while the risk of flooding — remains high.
So I continue to urge everyone in and near the path of the storm to follow the guidance of your local officials.
To everyone directly impacted:
In Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina.
Our nation is with you.
And President Biden and I will continue to do everything we can to keep you and your family safe.
And to help you rebuild once this crisis is past.
I also want to thank all of the first responders for your tireless work and courage.
With that, I will turn to the subject at hand.
Arizona: There are highly consequential issues at stake in this election.
And one is the security of our border.
The United States is a sovereign nation.
And I believe we have a duty to set rules at our border, and to enforce them.
I take that responsibility very seriously.
We are also a nation of immigrants.
The United States has been enriched by generations of people who have come from every corner of the world to contribute to our country and become part of the American story.
And we must reform our immigration system, to ensure that:
It works in an orderly way.
It is humane.
And it makes our country stronger.
I have just come from visiting the border and the port of entry in Douglas.
I spoke with dedicated agents from border patrol, and customs officers who, every day, oversee the flow of commercial traffic through the port.
The men and women who work there, and at other places along our southern border, help keep our nation secure.
And they need more resources to do their jobs.
Which is why we are investing half a billion dollars to modernize and expand the port of entry here in Douglas.
And why, last December, I helped raise the rate of overtime pay for border agents.
It is also why I strongly supported the comprehensive border security bill, written last year by a bipartisan group of Senators, including one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate.
That bill would have:
Hired 1,500 more border agents and officers.
Paid for 100 inspection machines to detect the fentanyl that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year.
It would have allowed us to more quickly and effectively remove those who come here illegally.
And it would have increased the number of immigration judges and asylum officers.
It was the strongest border security bill we have seen in decades.
It was endorsed by the Border Patrol Union.
And it should be in effect today, producing results for our country.
But Donald Trump tanked it.
He picked up the phone, called some friends in Congress, and said, stop the bill.
Because he prefers to run on the problem, instead of fixing the problem.
The American people deserve a President who cares more about border security than playing political games.
And so, even though Donald Trump tried to sabotage the border security bill, it is my pledge that, as President, I will bring it back up and proudly sign into law.
Now, border security is not a new issue to me.
I was Attorney General of a border state.
I saw the violence and chaos that transnational gangs caused.
And the heartbreak and loss from the spread of their illicit drugs.
I walked through the tunnels that traffickers used to smuggle contraband into the United States.
I’ve seen tunnels with walls as smooth as the walls of your living room, complete with lighting and air conditioning.
Making clear that the transnational criminal organizations are profiting from those tunnels.
And my knowledge of how they work comes from the fact that I have prosecuted transnational gangs, who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings.
My team and I broke up a heroin trafficking ring in the Bay Area, with ties to Mexican cartels.
Took down a gang working with the Sinaloa Cartel to traffic methamphetamine into the United States.
Seized millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine from the Guadalajara Cartel.
And broke up a drug trafficking operation, including pill mills and so-called recovery centers, that were pushing opioids, with deadly results.
And as Attorney General of California, 10 years ago, I led a bipartisan delegation of American State Attorneys General to Mexico.
Where we worked closely with the Attorney General of Mexico.
To increase intelligence sharing on gang activity.
All of which allowed us to prosecute more human traffickers.
And I started the first comprehensive report in the state of California analyzing transnational criminal organizations, and the threats they posed to public safety and the economy.
So stopping transnational crime and strengthening our border has been a long-standing priority of mine.
I have done that work.
And I will continue to treat it as a priority, when I am elected President.
I will reach across the aisle, and embrace commonsense approaches and new technologies to get the job done.
Because I know, transnational gangs are always innovating.
And to disrupt and defeat them, we must do the same.
As President, I won’t just bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump tanked.
I will do more to secure our border.
To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry.
Those who cross our borders unlawfully will be apprehended and removed.
And barred from re-entering for five years.
We will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators.
And if someone does not make an asylum request at a legal port of entry, and instead crosses our border unlawfully, they will be barred from receiving asylum.
While we understand that many people are desperate to migrate to the United States, our system must be orderly and secure.
Securing our border also means addressing the flow of fentanyl into our communities.
Fentanyl is a scourge on our country.
It is highly addictive.
And it is highly lethal.
So much so that using it one time can be fatal.
I have met too many families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl.
Their grief is heartbreaking.
And the devastation caused by fentanyl is being felt from rural communities to big cities.
So as President, I will make it a top priority to disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Most of the fentanyl in America comes from two cartels based in Mexico.
Most often, they are smuggling it through passenger and commercial vehicles at legal ports of entry, like the one I visited today.
The fact is, border officers don’t have enough resources, and are only able to search a small fraction of the vehicles that pass through their checkpoints.
This is unacceptable.
They need the resources to do their jobs.
As we could have done with the border security bill, I will surge support to law enforcement agencies on the front lines.
More personnel. More training. And more technology.
Including 100 new inspection systems that can detect fentanyl hidden in vehicles.
And we will make sure all our ports of entry, including airports and seaports, have additional state-of-the-art technology to detect fentanyl, and the chemicals and tools used to make it.
I will also double the resources for the Department of Justice to extradite and prosecute transnational cartels.
I will ensure we target the entire global fentanyl supply chain, because we must materially and sustainably disrupt the flow of illicit fentanyl into our country.
My approach takes into account that the precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl are, by and large, made in China.
And then, shipped to Mexican cartels, and trafficked to the United States.
Our Administration demanded that China crack down on the companies that make those chemicals.
And it has started to happen.
But they need to do more.
And as President, I will hold them to their commitment to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals from China.
All to say:
I will tackle this issue from every angle.
Because our highest charge must be to protect the lives of our people.
And, we must ensure that our country remains strong and competitive.
Which includes fixing our broken immigration system.
And let me be clear:
I reject the false choice that suggests we must choose between securing our border or creating a system of immigration that is safe, orderly, and humane.
We can and must do both.
We need clear legal pathways for people seeking to come to our country.
And we must make our current system work better.
For example, it can take years for asylum claims to be decided.
This is a problem we can solve.
Including by hiring more asylum officers, and expanding processing centers in people’s home countries.
And as President, I will work with Congress to create, at long last, a pathway to citizenship for hardworking immigrants who have been here for years.
Like Dreamers.
I have met with Dreamers throughout my career.
They who have grown up in the United States, were educated here, pay taxes here, serve in our military, and contribute to our communities every day.
They are American in every way.
But still, they do not have an earned pathway to citizenship.
And this problem has gone unsolved for decades.
The same goes for farmworkers, who ensure we have food on our tables, and who sustain our agricultural industry.
They, too, have been in legal limbo for years.
Because politicians have refused to come together and fix our broken immigration system.
Well, as President, I will put politics aside to fix our immigration system, and find solutions to problems which have persisted for far too long.
As I said at the beginning:
These issues are highly consequential for our nation.
And the contrast in this election is clear.
It is a choice between commonsense solutions, and the same old political games.
In the four years that Donald Trump was President, he did nothing to fix our broken immigration system.
He did not solve the shortage of immigration judges and border agents.
Or create lawful pathways into our nation.
He did nothing to address our outdated asylum system.
And did not work with other governments in our hemisphere to deal with what is clearly a regional challenge.
As overdoses went up during his presidency, he fought to slash funding for the fight against fentanyl.
And what did he do instead?
He separated families.
Ripped toddlers out of their mothers’ arms.
Put children in cages.
And tried to end protections for Dreamers.
He made the challenges at the border worse.
And he is still fanning the flames of fear and division.
Let me be clear:
That is not the work of a leader.
That is an abdication of leadership.
And so, on behalf of all communities across our nation that want to see these problems solved…
I say:
We cannot accept Donald Trump’s failure to lead.
We should not permit scapegoating instead of solutions.
Or rhetoric instead of results.
As your President, I will:
Protect our nation’s sovereignty.
Secure our border.
And work to fix our broken system of immigration.
And I will partner with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to do it.
It is time for us to turn the page on the ugly battles that have characterized our politics.
And time to move forward together, to achieve real solutions that make our country stronger.
Thank you very much.
God bless you.
And may God bless the United States of America.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
