Finally faced with hard questions on border, Harris has no answers

The interview began, and devoted the most time to, the debacle on the U.S.-Mexico border, which under Harris and President Joe Biden has seen millions of migrants cross illegally into the United States. Baier started with the most straightforward question imaginable: “How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last 3 1/2 years?” 

Harris did not answer. “Well, I’m glad you raise the issue of immigration because I agree with you,” she said. “It is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have. And you know what I’m going to talk about right now, which is — “

“Yes,” Baier said. “But do you — just a number. Do you think it’s 1 million, 3 million?” Again, Harris did not answer. “But Bret, let’s just get to the point, OK?” she said. “The point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.”

No, the point of the first question was how many illegal immigrants would Harris estimate the Biden-Harris administration has released into the country during its time in the White House. And just for the record, here is the estimate of the House Judiciary Committee: “In less than four years, the Biden-Harris administration has released into the United States more than 5.6 million illegal aliens, with another 1.9 million illegal alien ‘gotaways’ escaping into the country during the same time.” 

Do you think that Harris would ever, in a million years, admit that she and Biden have allowed 5.6 million illegal border crossers to stay in the country and looked the other way while another 1.9 million sneaked in? Never, ever.

Baier moved on to note that Harris and Biden reversed a Trump policy “that required illegal immigrants to be detained through deportation either in the U.S. or in Mexico.” Harris and Biden changed the policy and began releasing the illegal crossers into the U.S., Baier continued: “Included in those were a large number of single men, adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes. So, looking back, do you regret the decision to terminate ‘Remain in Mexico’ at the beginning of your administration?”

Do you think that Harris would ever, in a million years, admit that she regrets, or say that she does not regret, the decision to allow those millions of illegal border crossers, including the criminals among them, to stay in the U.S.? Addressing the question would involve accepting its premise, which Harris will never do. Never, ever.

From there, with a lot of back-and-forth, Harris launched into her standard answer on the border, which is: The immigration system is broken. Joe Biden and I introduced a bill on Jan. 20, 2021, to fix it. Congress did not pass it. We supported another bill introduced on Feb. 4, 2024, to fix the problem. Donald Trump killed it. Therefore — don’t blame me.

It is, and has always been, a preposterous nonanswer. Between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 4, 2024, Harris and Biden allowed more than 7 million largely unvetted illegal border crossers to stay in the country. From the very beginning, their open-door policy created a powerful magnet that drew more and more illegal crossers from around the world. Aided by the Biden-Harris administration and nongovernmental organizations, those illegal migrants moved into the country, putting enormous stresses on cities and states. And yes, some committed terrible crimes. Former President Bill Clinton, campaigning for Harris in Georgia recently, admitted that had the illegal migrants been vetted properly, Laken Riley, the nursing student allegedly murdered by a man who crossed illegally into the country and was allowed to stay, would be alive today.

Neither bill proposed or supported by Harris would have fixed the problem. Indeed, they might well have made the problem worse. The situation at the border for the last four years has been a law enforcement problem, not a lawmaking problem.

Baier asked Harris whether she owed an apology to the families of those murdered by illegal border crossers. You will not be surprised to learn that Harris did not answer the question. “Let me just say, first of all, those are tragic cases,” she said. “There’s no question about that. There’s no question about that. And I can’t imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred. So that is true. It is also true that if a border security [bill] had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock, trying to hold it all together to ensure that no future harm would occur. And this election in 20 days will determine whether we have a president of the United States who actually cares more about fixing a problem, even if it is not to their political advantage in an election. Because there was a solution.”

If you thought that Harris would ever, in a million years, agree that she owed an apology to the families of Americans murdered by migrants who entered the country illegally and were allowed to stay by the Biden-Harris administration — you would be very, very wrong.

A bit later, Baier asked Harris, “You supported allowing immigrants in the country illegally to apply for driver’s license, to qualify for free tuition at universities, to be enrolled in free healthcare. Do you still support those things?” Harris’s answer: “Listen, that was five years ago.” Today, she added, she will “follow the law.” Baier also asked whether Harris still supports decriminalizing illegal border crossing, which she supported five years ago. Harris said she does not.

So what to make of Harris’s defense of her border policy? The key takeaway is not that she did not answer the questions, even though she did not. The key takeaway is that there are no answers that would help Harris politically. The facts are what they are. What happened from 2021 to 2024 cannot be undone. Some Democrats are happy that Harris was feisty and pushed back on Baier’s questions. They think it makes her look strong. But the substance matters here. Remember the far-reaching effects of the influx of millions of illegal border crossers. They are what they are, and Harris cannot dodge responsibility for them.