In her first major speech since losing the election, former Vice President Kamala Harris ripped President Donald Trump over his immigration policies and tactics since retaking the Oval Office.
Newsweek previously reached out to Harris via online form on Wednesday ahead of the speech.
Why It Matters
Following her election loss in November and Trump’s inauguration in January, Harris has kept a somewhat low political profile.
Democrats have also faced growing turmoil and scrutiny following the loss, as the party struggles with delivering a cohesive message and backing a leader who resonates with voters. After the 2024 election, Republicans gained control of the White House, Senate and Congress.
In early polls surveying Americans on potential 2028 candidates, Harris has been a notable contender along with New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
What To Know
Since his inauguration, Trump has implemented a vastly different immigration vision than the one Harris promised to voters on the campaign trail.
Trump has implemented sweeping change under the assertion of mass deportations and imposed laws to further his plan. Most recently, his administration has been ensnarled in a legal back-and-forth that has gripped the nation, involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The 29-year-old husband and father from Maryland was detained in 2019 and has since been accused of being a member of the MS-13 El Salvadoran gang, which the Trump administration has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Abrego Garcia and his lawyer have denied involvement in the gang, but two judges, in separate rulings, concluded that he was an MS-13 member, based on confidential information provided to the court.
Nonetheless, he was shielded from deportation to his native country because he said that he would be a target of MS-13’s gang rivals. Abrego Garcia was ultimately deported to El Salvador after being arrested in March in what Trump administration lawyers called an “administrative error.”
His family denies any ties to gangs and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record in the United States. In 2021, his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, accused him of domestic violence and filed paperwork to obtain a restraining order, but says they have since reconciled.
In an exclusive statement to Newsweek, Vasquez Sura said, in part: “Things did not escalate, and I decided not to follow through with the civil court process. We were able to work through the situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”
While speaking at Emerge America’s 20th anniversary gala in San Francisco as keynote speaker on Wednesday night, Harris addressed some of Trump’s latest immigration actions in the event airing on C-SPAN.
Harris highlighted Americans who are calling out the Trump administration for violating “court orders” and saying it’s not OK to “detain and disappear American citizens or anyone without due process.”
The former vice president continued by commending “the courage of judges to uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them.”
The Supreme Court previously ordered the Trump administration to help facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return, in a unanimous ruling. Since the order, the White House has been accused of defying the High Court’s ruling.
Harris also praised Democratic lawmakers like Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Maxwell Frost, of New York and Florida, respectively, for leading in their own ways and paving a path for the future.
Harris cheered colleges for standing up to Trump amid his battle to threaten federal funding if universities did not concede to his demands in the wake of protests surrounding the war in Gaza.
What People Are Saying
Trump, on Truth Social last month: “This is the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that the Courts are trying to save from being deported? He was supposed to be, according to the Judge and the Democrats, a wonderful father from Maryland, but then they noticed he had ‘MS-13’ tattooed onto his knuckles (and lots of really bad stories about his past!). This is the gang that is, perhaps, the worst of them all. What is wrong with our Country?”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on X, formerly Twitter, last month: “Before the election, I warned that there is no safe haven under authoritarianism. If they can ship Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a foreign prison—accused of no crime, with no trial—they can do it to anyone. Americans of conscience must stand against this now.”
Victor Shi, former Harris campaign official, posted to X on Wednesday: “Oh, Kamala Harris is so back, ending her speech with: ‘This country is ours. It doesn’t belong to whoever is in the White House. It belong [sic] to you. It belongs to us. It belongs to We the People.’”
What Happens Next
It is unclear if Harris will return to politics as speculation swirls that she may compete in California’s gubernatorial race or make a second run for the White House.
The post Kamala Harris Rips Trump’s Immigration Policies in First Major Speech appeared first on Newsweek.
