If-elected Vice President Kamala Harris said she would push Congress to pass the border security bill drafted by Republicans and Democrats earlier this year. That failed deal became the centerpiece of Harris’ campaign promises on immigration and provides a window into Harris’ likely approach to immigration as president.

The bipartisan bill would have added thousands of Border Patrol and other immigration agents, expedited immigration decisions and made it harder to seek asylum in the United States. The bill was supported by the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents border agents. But that effort failed when Donald Trump publicly pressured Republicans to withdraw from the deal, calling it “adeath wish» for the GOP.

During the first three years of Biden’s term, the Border Patrol apprehended an average of about 2 million people per year trying to enter the United States between border crossings. Illegal U.S. border crossings declined this summer after the Biden administration added caps on asylum during periods of high illegal border crossings.

Voters have consistently ranked immigration among their top issues in the 2024 election. For months, polls have shown the issue to be a weak point for Harris. Trump called Harris “border tsar“, trying to blame her for the country’s immigration problems and exaggerating her diplomatic task as vice president to reduce the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Since becoming the party’s nominee, Harris has nailed at the center on border security. At campaign events, in advertisements and interviews, she has focused on her work as a prosecutor in California, bringing cases against transnational crime syndicates and human traffickers.

Here’s what you need to know about Harris’ immigration plan if she wins the presidential election.

More Border Patrol Agents

Harris supports adding more Border Patrol agents. In February, Republicans and Democrats in Congress had agreed to a deal on border security it would have added 1,500 more immigration officers and agents and expanded the roster of immigration judges and asylum officers. Harris has repeatedly said she would pressure Congress to pass this bill if she becomes president.

The deal would also expand immigration detention. Harris supports provisions of the border bill that would add more immigration detention beds, bringing the current total of 34,000 beds to about 50,000 beds. This means more people are being detained by immigration officials while their deportation cases are heard in court.

More asylum officers and immigration judges

Harris also supported provisions in the bill to staff officials responsible for determining who is allowed to stay in the United States. The deal would add 4,300 new asylum officers to speed up decisions on who gets asylum protection and who doesn’t. This would likely reduce delays and speed up the removal of those who do not qualify. Harris also proposed opening more offices overseas where people could apply for asylum.

“It can take years for asylum claims to be decided,” Harris said in September while campaigning in Douglas, Arizona. “Well, that’s a problem we can solve, including hiring more asylum officers and expanding processing centers in people’s countries of origin.”

Harris also supports adding 100 additional immigration court judges and associated support staff to reduce the backlog in immigration cases that has prolonged the wait time in the United States to be notified of a expulsion decision. These changes would require additional funding from Congress, and Harris would need to convince Republican lawmakers to follow through on the compromise deal reached earlier this year.

A higher bar for asylum applications

As vice president, Harris supported capping new asylum applications when illegal border crossings exceeded 2,500 per day, to deter migrants from showing up at the border. Harris also supported stricter provisions in the bipartisan border deal that would have increased requirements for people seeking asylum in the United States. Asylum seekers would have to prove there was no safe place to avoid persecution in their home country, including moving to another country. city.

Harris also supported provisions in the bill that make it easier to deport asylum seekers who do not meet required standards of protection. Under the plan, new asylum seekers would be placed in either an expedited deportation process or a six-month process conducted by asylum officers outside the immigration court system, called “protection determination”.

Expanding legal avenues for immigrants

Campaigning in Douglas, Arizona, in September, Harris said the country did not have to choose between securing the border and making the immigration system more orderly and humane. “We can and must do both,” Harris said. “We need clear, legal pathways for people to enter our country, and we need to make our current system work better. »

Harris supports adding 250,000 family and work visas over five years, provisions that were in the bipartisan border deal she pledged to resurrect.

She also promised to go further. She vowed that as president, she would work to create an earned path to citizenship for Americans living in the country without authorization. “I will work with Congress to finally create a path to citizenship for hard-working immigrants who have been here for years and deserve to have a system that works,” Harris said in Arizona in September.