Vance to visit southern border as Republicans focus on immigration issues

Republican VP candidate is expected to attack presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over border security issues during tour

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance plans to visit the US-Mexico border this week as part of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

The visit will likely provide a backdrop for Vance to attack presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on border security and immigration.

Vance's multi-day tour of the southern border will begin on Thursday in Cochise County, Arizona, according to the Trump campaign.

“President Donald J. Trump and Vice Presidential Nominee, Senator JD Vance are devastated to see the path of death and destruction American families are facing because of the radical-Left policies of the current administration,” the campaign said in a press release. “A Trump-Vance Administration will secure our border, begin the largest deportation operation in American history, and restore law and order to our country.”

Since Vice President Harris announced her run for the presidency following Joe Biden's decision to step away from the race, Trump's campaign has focused their attacks against her on immigration and border issues.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally on July 22, 2024 in Middletown, Ohio. Vance will tour the US-Mexico border beginning on Thursday (Getty Images)

On Tuesday, the campaign released its first attack ad against Harris, which focused on her border security role in the Biden administration. The ad comes a week after House Republicans approved a resolution meant to condemn Harris's actions in that role, according to The Hill.

Harris's campaign responded by pointing out that it was Trump who lobbied against a bipartisan, congressional border security bill earlier this year.

Republicans — including and especially Trump — have described Harris as Biden's "border czar," but she never held any such title. She was tasked with duties concerning the border — like leading diplomatic efforts to cut down on poverty, violence, and corruption in Central American countries including Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, as well as in Mexico, according to former special representative for border affairs Alan Bersin, who spoke to Reuters.

Regardless, Trump doubled down on the framing during a rally in North Carolina last week.

"If border czar Harris stays in charge, every week will bring a never-ending stream of illegal alien rapists, bloodthirsty killers and child predators to go after our sons and our daughters," he claimed.

US Vice President Kamala Harris tours the El Paso Border Patrol Station, on 25 June, 2021 in El Paso, Texas. Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, is touring the border beginning on August 1 and is expected to attack Harris’s immigration record (AFP via Getty Images)

Despite Trump and the Republican's insistence otherwise, Harris was never tasked with the explicit job of securing the southern border. Still, her campaign has insisted she is the only candidate who will look for "real solutions" to border security issues.

"There's only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation's border, and that's Vice President Harris," Kevin Munoz, Harris's campaign spokesperson, told Reuters.

Vance recently admitted that Republicans are struggling to drum up attacks against Harris because she has less “baggage” than Biden.

He made the remarks during a donor fundraiser in Golden Valley, Minnesota on Saturday, and a recording, obtained by The Washington Post, revealed his unfiltered thoughts about Harris’s entry into the campaign.

“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might say, Kamala Harris is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”