CHICAGO.- Several Democratic leaders who gave speeches at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) recalled and criticized former President Donald Trump for blocking the bipartisan law on immigration and border security.
The bill was endorsed by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after several months of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate.
Once the document was revealed, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, signaled he would not approve the bill, following former President Trump’s call to scrap it.
Several reports indicated that the former Republican president feared that the bipartisan law would benefit Democrats ahead of the November 5 presidential election.
“When Donald Trump comes to Texas, he stands next to uniformed officers like mine, he’s not there to help us, don’t think that for a second, he’s a selfish man,” said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. “I mean, look, just like when he killed the border law, he just made our job harder.”
House Democratic Chairman Pete Aguilar, the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, said that Vice President Harris, when she becomes president, would support immigration and border security reform.
“Friends, we don’t have to choose between a secure border and building an America for all. With President Harris, we can and will do both,” Aguilar said. “As a prosecutor, she stood up to gangs and transnational cartels. As president, she will fight for pathways to citizenship, and I can tell you that as the highest-ranking Latino in Congress, our community understands what’s at stake in this election, because we believe in the promise of this country.”
Harris-Walz campaign co-chair Rep. Veronica Escobar also noted that Trump does not support immigration reform.
“When it comes to the border, listen to me when I say, Donald Trump, you know nothing,” she said. “He and his Republican imitators view the border and immigration as a political opportunity to exploit rather than a problem to solve. Congress has failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform in nearly four decades. All three times they tried, Republicans blocked legislation that would have funded border security and created a more humane immigration system. They are not serious people.”
Escobar said Harris will push for a plan in favor of immigrants, without “demonizing” them.
“With Kamala Harris as president, we can fulfill America’s promise. We can strengthen legal pathways to immigration, we can secure our borders, and we can treat with dignity those who seek a better future in them,” he said.