The Kamala Harris campaign refuses to disclose if it would stand by and continue, even expand, President Joe Biden's best-known immigration policies.
Vice President Harris rolled out her policy stances on her website's issues page weeks after being tapped as the Democratic presidential nominee, but the website skirts explaining what she plans to do on immigration and the border.
Harris's campaign did not respond to several requests for comment Thursday and Friday on whether she would continue the four major actions that Biden has taken at the border or if she would go beyond those to implement a more progressive agenda, given her history supporting a 50% reduction in immigrant detention among other progressive immigration initiatives.
Biden's first actions upon taking office followed through on his campaign promises in the 2020 election. He immediately rescinded the Trump administration's Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum-seekers to live in Mexico through court proceedings rather than be released into the United States.
Within days of taking office, Biden halted all deportations, including criminals illegally living in the United States that federal judges have ordered be removed.
Biden also suspended more than 350 miles of remaining border wall construction that Congress passed during the Trump administration. Within months, Biden formally killed the funding, leaving countless pieces of steel beams rusting up and down the southern border, uninstalled.
One of Biden's most noteworthy executive actions came in early June this year, when the White House cracked down on illegal immigration — three and a half years after a record-high number of illegal immigrants had been encountered at the border.
In the first week of June, following six months of diplomatic talks with Mexican counterparts to deter migrants from entering through the country to the U.S., Biden took new executive action.
Biden invoked his authority to bar migrants from seeking asylum if they were intercepted by federal police not at a port of entry — primarily affecting people who walk or swim across the Mexico border.
Harris has touted her campaign as a "new way forward," not crediting what her boss has done over the past few years, leaving voters to assume her way will be different and "new."
The campaign website largely consists of Harris's work as San Francisco district attorney, California senator, and vice president — not her plans for the White House, if elected.
The website's outline for how Harris will "SECURE OUR BORDERS AND FIX OUR BROKEN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM," states that she believes in "tough, smart solutions" to secure the border, keep communities safe, and reform our broken immigration system.
"As Vice President, she supported the bipartisan border security bill, the strongest reform in decades," the issues page states. "The legislation would have deployed more detection technology to intercept fentanyl and other drugs and added 1,500 border security agents to protect our border."
Republicans have rebuked adding more agents as simply facilitating the arrest and release into the U.S. of illegal immigrants, rather than deterring or removing them. Additionally, Harris refuses to say how she would handle surges in illegal immigration.
"As President, she will bring back the bipartisan border security bill and sign it into law. At the same time, she knows that our immigration system is broken and needs comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship," the page stated, mirroring comments she has made in a campaign video.
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Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) spoke with the Washington Examiner in August and said the bill that he worked with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) on last winter was not likely to be revived next year because it answered a certain time and problem, different than the present needs.
Harris has not indicated how she would roll out an "earned" pathway for illegal immigrants to become lawful permanent residents with the end goal of becoming citizens.
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