FLASHBACK: Kamala mocked Trump's border security as ‘vanity project,’ compared ICE to KKK

As Vice President Kamala Harris gears up for the 2024 presidential race, her past comments on immigration and border security are drawing renewed attention and criticism. This comes as illegal immigration has become a top issue for many voters during the Biden administration.

During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris described then-President Donald Trump’s border wall as a “vanity project” and asserted that illegal immigration was “not an emergency” by definition.

“We don’t need to build a wall. This is a crisis of [Trump’s] own making,” Harris stated at the time, adding that she would never support funding for Trump's border wall in Congress. Trump had suggested declaring a national emergency to secure funds for the wall to combat illegal immigration along the southern border.

Harris's stance on border security has been controversial throughout her tenure in office. In 2018, she compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the Ku Klux Klan during a Senate hearing. Additionally, during her presidential run, she argued that illegal immigrants should not be treated as criminals.

Despite this rhetoric, Harris was tasked with addressing the border crisis and investigating its “root causes” after President Biden took office in 2021. 

As Harris is poised to become the Democratic nominee for president, her past comments on immigration could pose challenges to her campaign. Since her “do not come” speech where she urged South American migrants to refrain from crossing the border, over 8 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the US from the southern border, according to the New York Post. Immigration remains one of the top issues for voters, and Harris's previous remarks may impact her ability to win their support.