Immigration mandate may be Kamala Harris' achilles heel

Kamala Harris' effort to tackle the root causes of migration is now one of her biggest liabilities as she seeks the presidency.

As vice president she had a broad, if ambitious, mandate to tackle problems contributing to a surge in migration from Central America to the US: Fight corruption; lure investment and strengthen the rule of law. Promote human rights and battle organised crime.

Three years later, there's little to show for the effort, even if it was never intended to put an immediate halt to emigration. Before President Joe Biden issued an executive order in June to limit asylum claims, resulting in a slowdown in newcomers at the border, arrivals from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador-the three countries known as the Northern Triangle that Harris focused on-had fluctuated, falling in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 before rising in the first few months of this year.


That failure, as critics see it, has dogged Harris since she became her party's presumptive nominee for president in this year's election. Polling in swing states by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult has shown immigration is the No. 2 most important issue to voters, behind only the economy. Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance have already sought to hammer Harris on the issue.