PASADENA, Calif. — California Sen. Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro targeted former Vice President Joe Biden’s record on immigration in interviews with the press at an activist meeting in Pasadena, Calif.
Both 2020 Democratic candidates appeared at the Fair Immigration Reform Movement Action presidential candidate forum on immigration Friday afternoon and fielded questions from a variety of predominately Hispanic progressive activists.
Biden’s name never arose during their remarks to the public, but the two candidates were pressed by reporters to contrast their positions on immigration reform with the party’s front-runner.
“Look, there’s no question that we have to deal with what’s in front of us today, and anybody running for president has to to obviously speak to their record, but also speak to the plan going forward and I’m prepared to do that,” Harris said when asked about the former vice president. “I am prepared to point to my history working on this and disagreeing with the [Obama] administration” on how it handled illegal immigration, she added.
Castro, who has released one of the most progressive immigration reform plans among the 2020 candidates, echoed Harris’ remarks to the Washington Examiner.
“Of course, as we go through campaigns and sit through interviews, every candidate is going to have to answer questions about their record, their experience, their plans for the future and that includes [Biden and Harris].”
Biden did not appear at the FIRM Action event on Friday, leading one of its hosts to remark how little interest some candidates had in meeting with the group, nor has he released a formal immigration plan.
During his time in the Senate, Biden helped pass the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996, a bill that more than doubled border patrol agents and increase funds for deportation efforts. That bill, known as the IIRIRA, was repeatedly denounced through Friday’s event.
In 2006, Biden boasted about how he backed the Secure Fence Act, which provided funding for a 700-mile-long border fence.
“I voted, unlike most Democrats ― and some of you won’t like it ― I voted for 700 miles of fence. But, let me tell you, we can build a fence 40 stories high ― unless you change the dynamic in Mexico and ― and you will not like this, and ― punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do those two things, all the rest is window dressing,” Biden said.
