A pro-Trump organization is launching an advertisement campaign highlighting Vice President Kamala Harris’s past support for giving illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded transgender procedures.
Building America’s Future, a conservative nonprofit, is targeting suburban women in Michigan and North Carolina with digital ads blasting Harris for putting “illegals first” throughout her career, National Review has learned. Michigan and North Carolina are both crucial battleground states the Harris and Trump presidential campaigns are investing in heavily.
Harris pledged to support transgender surgeries for illegal migrants on a 2019 questionnaire from the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union during her first presidential bid, CNN reported earlier this month. She also professed support for ending immigrant detention and reducing funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, left-wing positions that became popular during the Trump administration.
A viral CNN segment where reporter Andrew Kaczynski discusses Harris’s pledge with a surprised Erin Burnett features in Building America’s Future’s advertisement.
“That’s what Kamala said. Here’s what she’s done,” the ad says.
“She defended San Francisco as a sanctuary city. Told California law enforcement to ignore detention rules. Led the invasion. Kamala will always be illegals first, always has,” the ad warns. National Review has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Build America’s Future has aired multiple ads highlighting Biden and Harris’s immigration record to keep the border crisis on people’s minds and bring fresh attention to high-profile examples of suspected migrant crime.
Immigration is a hot-button issue this election cycle in large part because of the Biden administration’s lax approach to illegal border crossings. Record levels of immigrants have poured into the U.S. during President Joe Biden’s term, and public opinion on the issue has shifted noticeably in response. Transgender procedures are another hot-button cultural issue, especially because of instances where distressed minors have been rushed into getting irreversible medical interventions and the trend of biological males competing in women’s sports.
Biden issued an executive order in June attempting to limit the flow of illegal immigrants after he spent months insisting he could not address the issue without congressional support. Weeks later, he announced a mass amnesty plan for immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens.
Harris is attempting to rebrand herself as a tough but sensible candidate on immigration, distancing herself from the “border czar” assignment she was given in 2021. Her campaign has put her prosecutorial experience at the forefront of its messaging on immigration and crime, a contrast from her positioning four years ago.
Harris has professed support for the failed bipartisan immigration deal negotiated earlier this year. The bill would have placed new restrictions on illegal border crossings, but Republicans came out against it after strong conservative opposition.