The record surge in illegal immigration during the Biden-Harris administration, its consequences and costs, and what to do about it are all major issues in this year’s election. Recent polling suggests addressing immigration is voters’ second biggest priority, right after inflation and ahead of the economy. Yet Vice President Kamala Harris’s “policy book” doesn’t even mention immigration, much less her plans for addressing it. That could prove a costly mistake.      

By now, the contours of the immigration issue are clear to most voters. Former President Donald Trump supports immigration restrictions, represented by building a wall. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration’s loose border policy resulted in a record surge of illegal immigrants entering the United States. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data show that the “non-detained docket of removable aliens has skyrocketed in the past three years, increasing 90 percent since FY 2020,” according to Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies.