Washington, D.C. (September 6, 2024) – A new Center for Immigration Studies report examines the immigration legislation championed by Sen. Kamala Harris during her four years in the U.S. Senate. Her legislative record reveals an extreme agenda to cripple U.S. immigration law enforcement that would have gone beyond even the damage inflicted by the Biden-Harris administration. Though her bills did not pass, they may offer insight into what her presidential policies would look like.
According to the Center’s analysis, Harris introduced or co-sponsored numerous bills aimed at undermining the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) and Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ability to enforce our nation’s immigration laws. “As Senator, Kamala Harris sought to dismantle core components of our immigration enforcement and border security system through legislation even more extreme than the actions pursued by the Biden-Harris administration,” said George Fishman, the Center’s Senior Legal Fellow and author of the report.
Key outcomes of the proposed legislation Harris supported would include:
- Erasing the Border: Halting or impeding border wall construction and border enforcement.
- Disabling Detention: Cutting detention beds by half, ending many detention mandates, and limiting DHS's ability to detain illegal aliens and DOJ’s ability to manage the immigration court system.
- Handcuffing DHS Officers: Creating sanctuary zones at "sensitive locations," halting or impeding immigration enforcement actions, and preventing cooperation from state and local law enforcement.
- Gutting DHS's Ability to Remove Illegal and Criminal Aliens: Halting or impeding the removal of illegal, criminal and terrorist aliens, and providing taxpayer-funded lawyers to aliens in removal proceedings.
- Terminating Trump Administration Policies: Terminating successful policies such as the Migrant Protection Protocols (Remain in Mexico) and Title 42 expulsions.
- Enabling Asylum Fraud: Increasing already endemic asylum fraud by means including striking application time limits and hindering adverse credibility determinations.
"Senator Harris’s legislative agenda reflects a radical approach to immigration, one that favors the lawbreaker over the rule of law," Fishman added. "Should these policies ever be enacted, they would surpass even the extreme measures seen under President Biden and his impeached Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas."
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