U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walked a scrubby stretch of fence line along Arizona’s border with Mexico on Friday.
Harris chatted with local Border Patrol leaders as they strode along a rust-colored stretch of wall built during Barack Obama’s presidency.
Harris arrived by helicopter in Douglas, where she met with Mayor Donald Huish, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, and County Supervisor Ann English, along with Senator Mark Kelly and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“They’ve got a tough job, and they need, rightly, support to do their job,” Harris said of the Border Patrol as she entered the Douglas port of entry for a briefing on efforts to block the flow of fentanyl across the border.
“They are very dedicated. And so I’m here to talk with them about what we can continue to do to support them. And also thank them for the hard work they do.”
Later, she was expected to call for further tightening asylum restrictions, moving beyond President Joe Biden’s policy on an issue where her rival, former President Donald Trump, has an edge with voters
Hundreds of people packed into a gymnasium to hear her speak.
Immigration and border security are top issues in Arizona, the only battleground state that borders Mexico and one that contended with a record influx of asylum-seekers last year.
Voters favor Trump on migration, and Harris has gone on offense to improve her standing on the issue and defuse a key line of political attack for Trump.
In nearly every campaign speech she gives, Harris recounts how a sweeping bipartisan package aiming to overhaul the federal immigration system collapsed in Congress earlier this year after Trump urged top Republicans to oppose it.
