WASHINGTON, DC — An invitation to a barbecue in the backyard of the vice president’s mansion appeared in Frankie Miranda’s inbox two weeks ago.
Nationally known Hispanic community leaders, including Miranda, who serves as president of the Hispanic Federation, were invited to Kamala Harris’ residence to “celebrate” their work. As one of President Joe Biden’s biggest supporters, Harris needs to help garner support from Hispanic voters, and the barbecue was a low-key way to do just that.
Biden has since withdrawn. The stakes for Harris have risen as she moves closer to winning the Democratic nomination, and so have the expectations of several Hispanic leaders who have confirmed the event. They are especially eager to see where she stands on issues that matter to their community, including immigration, one of the thorniest issues in the race.
“People will expect different types of programming at an event at the vice president’s home and with a leading Democratic candidate,” said Miranda, who will attend the dinner on Thursday. The vice president’s office declined to confirm the event.
But as she transitions into her new role as presidential candidate, Harris is already facing intense scrutiny on immigration from political opponents and allies alike.
Even before Harris secured the delegate count needed to win the Democratic nomination, Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail began to denounce her as a failed “border czar” who has done little to curb record numbers of illegal immigrants at the U.S. southern border (a title she has never held, nor has she been responsible for the immigration problem at the southern border).
Polls show that Latino voters Split evenly at the beginning of this month Latino voters, who are split between backing President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, are just as concerned about the economy, health care, education and other core issues as other groups — and, like many other Americans, they are increasingly concerned about immigration.
The community organizers are There are more than 20 million Latinos in the country.The issues are often personal.
Several guests at Thursday’s barbecue told USA Today that they and their communities are eager to know answers about how a Harris administration will address issues of particular concern to Latinos.
How will she ease tensions between Latino immigrants who have lived here for years and those who have just arrived at the U.S. border?
Can she secure the border and prevent a new humanitarian crisis? How will she reconcile the demands of the party’s progressive wing with what’s left of the moderate wing?
“The Biden administration has attempted to address more humane immigration policies and more conservative policies, but has failed because Congress was unwilling to work with the administration,” Miranda said. “I hope Kamala Harris has learned how to address issues that are so important to our community.”
Is Kamala Harris the “border emperor”?
At the start of his administration, President Joe Biden gave Harris the same job she had as vice president under Barack Obama. Biden tasked her with strengthening diplomatic relations south of the border with Mexico and Central American countries, with the goal of developing a “root causes” strategy to address why people are fleeing their home countries to the U.S. border.
If the US has a “border czar,” it’s the Cabinet secretary in charge of border security, a role held by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas since 2021.
Instead, Harris was given a “vague mission that was quickly redefined as a diplomatic effort to help Central American countries address the root causes of the exodus,” said Adam Isakson, defense watchdog director for the Washington Office on Latin America. “She completely shied away from addressing the border issues or the impacts of immigration policy.”
Long-term root cause approaches have not shown results until migration patterns have changed dramatically.
Under Biden, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 8.4 million encounters with migrants at the southwest border through June, a record number for any presidential administration and one that Harris will likely have to defend.
In 2022, Venezuelans began making the journey to the United States in large numbers, and people from a more diverse range of countries, from China to Ecuador, began arriving at the U.S. southern border, creating a recurring humanitarian crisis in communities along the border.
Republicans have blasted Biden’s so-called “open borders” policy, with the administration pointing to uncontrollable global unrest and historic migration.
Illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border did not begin under Biden, but it has intensified. Migrant apprehensions began to increase during the Trump administration., Before the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions around the world.
Currently, roughly 14% of the total U.S. population is foreign-born, just shy of the number recorded more than a century ago, and nearly half of immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 1965 and 2022 are from Latin America, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data.
As the world emerges from the pandemic and the economic devastation it has wreaked on many countries, there has been a surge in migrants at the U.S. border.
But “there’s not a preponderance of immigrants from the countries that were the focus of the Root Cause Strategy,” said Anita Isaacs, a political scientist at Haverford College who studies U.S. relations with Latin America. “I think the Root Cause Strategy deserves some credit for that.”
Polls show immigration is a growing concern for Latino voters
While pocketbook issues like inflation, cost of living and job security have always been top of mind for Latino voters, immigration has become a growing concern, polls of Latino voters have found. Published by UnidosUS in June.
Among concerns cited by Hispanic voters, immigration and the border rose from ninth place two years ago to third this year.
Polls show that offering a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. is a top priority for Latino voters, said Clarissa Martinez de Castro, vice president of Latino voting initiatives at UnidosUS.
Martinez de Castro has also been invited to a barbecue at Harris’s residence and plans to attend.
While leaders said Thursday’s event was focused on celebrating the accomplishments of activists in the Latino community, Martinez de Castro said Harris has an opportunity to clearly send a message to voters about how she plans to tackle immigration issues.
Nearly a third of poll respondents listed strengthening border security and increasing legal immigration as their top three priorities, indicating the political tensions Harris will face in winning over Latino voters.
Republican candidate Trump’s outlined plan for a second term also includes completing a border wall and deporting all illegal immigrants, but the poll found it was the lowest priority among respondents.
Martinez said there has been a “constant stream of venom” from President Trump and other Republicans, including calls for a “mass deportation” plan and inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants.
“The question is whether Harris will embrace that role and speak for the majority of voters who don’t see themselves in the more harmful representations of the issues currently on TV,” she said.
Biden-Harris’ successes and failures on immigration
For more than three decades, in the absence of any substantive Congressional action on immigration, successive presidential administrations have implemented policies to stop or manage immigration — building border fences, trying to send migrants back to Mexico or limiting asylum offers — and often resulting in short-lived reductions in migration.
The number of migrants arriving at the southern border has fallen sharply after a record-breaking month in December.
Analysts are assessing two strategies: Mexico’s crackdown under pressure from the Biden administration and Biden’s June 5 executive order that severely limits access to the U.S. asylum system at the southern border.
“It’s a big one-two punch,” said Isakson of the Washington Office on Latin America. “The other is an offer to help Panama deport the migrants.”
“They found a short-term solution,” he said. “We’ve learned over the last decade that smugglers will find a solution.” He predicts the migrants will find a way to come again.
Through her work to identify root causes and partnering with the private sector, Harris has generated more than $5.2 billion in investment in the region, primarily in the Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), to help people stay in their home countries.
This investment has connected over 4.5 million people to the internet and brought over 2.5 million people into the formal financial system.
Most recently, in March, Secretary Harris hosted Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo at the White House and announced new commitments, including a $50 million initiative to strengthen the rule of law in security and judicial institutions through cooperation between the State Department and Guatemala.
“Alignment of policy priorities”
Guests at Thursday’s barbecue include leading leaders of some of the nation’s oldest and most active Latino community organizations, from LULAC to voting promotion groups like Mi Familia Vota.
Roman Palomares, president of LULAC, wrote the vice president to decline the invitation due to a scheduling conflict, but the organization’s CEO plans to attend. Palomares said he hopes the vice president will address issues that are dividing the community and the nation.
“We’re waiting to see what her policies are,” he said. “She and Biden have done a lot for the Hispanic community, and we hope she continues in that same direction. But we’re also thinking about how we can solve some of this immigration crisis, which is dividing us.”
Hector Sánchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, believes Harris should speak out about her pro-immigration record.
Plus, she’s not Trump, who he doesn’t think has Latinos’ interests at heart.
“One thing is very clear, there’s almost complete agreement,” he said. “Trump is the big enemy. Enemy No. 1 in the Latino community.”
Sanchez said Harris has led efforts to investigate President Trump’s family separation policies and has also urged Congress to create a path to citizenship for Dreamers, those with Temporary Protected Status and essential workers.
“We need to see real solutions for the country continue,” he said. “We are a very hypocritical country when it comes to immigration. We rely on cheap, exploitable labor, and the whole country benefits from the hard work of immigrants.”
