Harris border visit to focus on curbing fentanyl flow, boosting resources for border agents

Vice President Harris plans to call for more resources for border patrol agents, on her visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, a senior campaign official said. She is also set to describe curbing the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. a “top priority” if she’s elected in November.

Harris is set to visit Douglas, Ariz., and meet with border patrol agents.

While there, she plans to argue that “American sovereignty requires setting rules at the border and enforcing them,” the official said.

And, she will “reject the false choice between securing the border and creating an immigration system that is safe, orderly and humane — arguing we must do both to protect our country’s security and enduring legacy as a nation of immigrants,” according to the official.

Harris is expected to reiterate her support for the border deal that was negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators but failed in the House after former President Trump urged Republicans to vote against it earlier this year.

Since kicking off her campaign in July, Harris has called for passage of the border deal when asked about her plan to fix the immigration system and she will outline parts of it again on Friday, including putting new fentanyl detection machines at ports of entry and hiring 1,500 more border agents.

“The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games,” Harris plans to say, according to the official.

The Harris campaign also unveiled a new ad on Friday that will run in Arizona and other battleground states. In the 30-second spot, entitled “Never Back Down,” the narrator outlines parts of the border deal.

“She will secure our border. Here’s her plan — hire thousands of more border agents, enforce the law and step up technology and stop fentanyl smuggling and human trafficking. We need a leader with a real plan to fix the border and that’s Kamala Harris,” the narrator said in the ad.