Footage has surfaced of Vice President Kamala Harris protesting deportations of illegal immigrants, chanting “Down, down with deportations!”
The video, obtained by the Daily Mail’s Charlie Spiering, shows Harris at the 33rd annual Kingdom Day Parade in Los Angeles in January 2018.
Then-Senator Harris joins in chants of “Up, up with education, down, down with deportation!” reflecting her opposition to deporting illegal immigrants.
Kamala Harris marched and shouted with actor Jussie Smollett during a 2018 MLK Jr. parade
Under President Biden and Harris, deportations have dropped to historic lows.
In Fiscal Year 2023, over 3.2 million illegal immigrants were encountered at the border, but only 142,580 were deported by ICE.
This means newly arrived illegal immigrants had just a 4.4% chance of deportation.
Retired San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke testified that deportation is crucial to controlling illegal immigration.
“The only true consequence we have to slow down illegal immigration is sending them back,” Heitke told the House Homeland Security Committee.
He stressed that deportations are a cost-effective solution to the ongoing border crisis.
Harris has long opposed strict immigration enforcement.
During her 2019 presidential bid, she questioned ICE’s mission, vowed to close most federal immigration detention centers, and proposed ending ICE’s authority to issue detainers on illegal immigrants arrested by local police, which experts consider a key tool in deportation efforts.
