In Kamala Harris' Fox News interview, she did not defend immigration

Fox News was never going to be a friendly place for Vice President Kamala Harris. At an appearance on Special report with Bret Baiershe was asked about some of the American right's greatest fascinations and talking points: gender-affirming surgeries, Joe Biden's mental acuity, the prospect of war with Iran. And – of course – she got tough questions about immigration policy and the southern border.

By answering these questions, Harris showed how much the Democratic Party is moving to the right — toward the ideological center on immigration — under the banner of her candidacy.

She chose not to defend the virtue of immigration or immigrants themselves and continued to leave the playing field to the right. There were no references to the country's immigrant roots or the value of the immigrants (here legal or not), which Baier kept asking about. And there has been no condemnation of Donald Trump's stated plans to mass deport undocumented immigrants. She didn't mention it, even as he invoked archaic laws to round up and deport millions of people living in the United States.

Instead, Harris used the interview to further distance herself from her past and the left wing of her party on immigration. Did she regret the pro-immigrant stance she took in 2019 that allowed undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses, qualify for free tuition at some universities or get public health insurance under a universal plan?

“Listen, that was five years ago and I am completely sure that I will abide by the law. I have made that statement over and over again,” Harris replied.

If yesBaier followed, Why did she choose a vice president, Gov. Tim Walz, who has implemented some of these proposals into state law in Minnesota?

Harris paused before saying that her ticket “is very clear that we must support and enforce federal law, and that's exactly what we're going to do.”

And so the pattern repeated itself: When Harris had a chance to defend migrants in the face of classic right-wing fearmongering (like when she was asked about “single adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes”), she abandoned the premise and pivoted to Der The bipartisan border bill that Biden proposed earlier this year said Trump helped fuel. She did the same when asked if she regretted the Biden administration's reversal of Trump-era executive orders restricting immigration — pointing to a White House bill that she said “fixes our immigration system.” ” would have. But she ignored the fact that this would also have provided a path to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants already living in the United States.

This all continues a trend for Harris. Just last week, at a town hall meeting hosted by the Spanish-language media network Univision, Harris had two opportunities to invoke and condemn Trump's mass deportation plans as he spoke to attendees whose family members were deported or were unable to receive medical care because of a lack of legal support Status. She passed up that chance and instead pointed to her previous support for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program before talking about reviving the bipartisan border bill.

And since she was nominated as a candidate and led a national convention that tended to focus on immigration in the context of the need for tougher border policies, she has continued to push for a bipartisan border bill that is supported by many progressive and liberal immigration advocacy groups and members of her own party will not support. These critics are still biting their tongues and pointing to the need to unite to win the election and keep a staunchly anti-immigrant Trump from control of the executive branch – but this truce will only last until November 5th.