Harris is undergoing a complete political transformation, something rarely seen before. She’s now reversing nearly every policy stance she’s previously held, while asserting that her core “values” remain unchanged. This could only be true if her core value is opportunistic pragmatism.
She’s taking a duplicitous approach, much like the two-faced Roman god Janus. When she says, “we’re not going back,” she means she’s not revisiting her prior positions. Examples of her policy reversals include her stance on fracking, her approach to policing, and her shift from being a lenient prosecutor to adopting a tough-on-crime persona similar to that of former New York DA Thomas Dewey.
There are many instances of this political shape-shifting, but for now, I’ll focus on her abrupt shift in immigration policy.
Let’s begin by recalling the old Kamala Harris, who stood firmly with Democrats advocating for open borders. She championed sanctuary cities and counties and supported extensive benefits for undocumented immigrants, which incentivized illegal border crossings. She also sought to limit the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), especially when it came to tracking down criminal elements within the immigrant population. Harris even pushed for decriminalizing illegal border crossings and supported President Biden’s decision to allow Title 42—when it was keeping migrants in Mexico—to expire.
Harris was a key ally in President Biden’s open-border policies. She showed little concern when construction of the southern border wall was halted and Biden issued executive orders reversing many of Trump’s border security measures, which had reduced illegal crossings.
Biden appointed Harris as his “border czar,” aware that her record suggested she wouldn’t achieve much. Her supporters now claim her role was limited to dispersing taxpayer money to Central American nations as incentives to curb migration. Even within that restricted role, little was accomplished.
Harris made a token trip to Guatemala and one border visit for a photo op in a quiet region, but her so-called focus on Central America was either misleading or ineffective. People from over 40 countries, including Middle Eastern terrorists, continue to cross the border illegally. Moreover, Biden’s executive order welcoming Venezuelans has led to increased drug- and gang-related crimes in the communities where these migrants settle.
The Biden-Harris border policies have resulted in a historic surge in illegal border crossings since they assumed office. This outcome is a direct result of their policies.
Politically, Harris and Biden are now attempting to shift the blame onto Republicans, accusing them of obstructing immigration reform for political gain. They point to a bipartisan agreement in the Senate that never even made it to the floor.
The Democratic narrative claims Trump ordered the deal’s demise to maintain the immigration debate as a campaign issue, but that’s spin, not fact.
The actual fact is that nearly two years ago, the House—under a Republican majority—passed an immigration bill. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to even bring it to a vote or assign it to a committee for review, following consultations with the Biden administration.
As for the supposed bipartisan plan, it wasn’t introduced because it likely would have been debated and rejected. Trump’s views were irrelevant to this; it was simply a terrible piece of legislation.
The proposal allowed up to 4,999 illegal crossings per day before any action would be taken. Over a year, that’s roughly 1.8 million illegal entrants, or 7.3 million over four years—a number alarmingly close to the current levels under Biden’s border policy.
For perspective, let’s look at two numbers: 1,000 and 200,000.
The former represents the number of daily illegal crossings that President Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson called a crisis. The proposal Harris supports would allow a number more than seven times that. The latter figure, 200,000, is the approximate number of illegal border crossings in 2020, Trump’s final year in office. Since Biden reversed Trump’s policies, illegal crossings have skyrocketed, and gotaways—those who evade authorities—have increased dramatically, with over 600,000 in 2022 compared to 137,000 in Trump’s final year.
Harris avoids addressing her past positions or presenting detailed policies to voters. However, on immigration, she’s clear: she’d endorse a deeply flawed bill, one that would normalize crisis-level illegal crossings.
In summary, when Harris isn’t flip-flopping, she’s misleading the public.
And that’s the reality.
