On Monday, a resurfaced clip of then-Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) went viral, showing the California politician chanting “down with deportation” with protesters during a Los Angeles parade in 2018. After an abysmal immigration record under the Biden-Harris administration, the Harris campaign has attempted to convince the American people that she will be tough on the border if given the chance to take power for the next four years. The 2018 clip is a stark reminder of the Democratic candidate’s true beliefs about America’s immigration system.
A year before she ran in the Democratic primary, Harris was invited to be the grand marshall of the 33rd annual Kingdom Day Parade in Los Angeles. While the January event is normally reserved to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr., demonstrators had other ideas, instead focusing on advertising the “Times up!” movement that had swept the country’s entertainment industry. During the parade, Harris, while smiling and accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff and her stepdaughter, chanted “Up up with education, down, down with deportation!” with the crowd.
As reported by The Daily Mail, alongside Harris was actor Jussie Smollett wearing a “Times Up” shirt. Smollett was found guilty in January 2019 for committing a race hoax that alleged that two white men wearing Make America Great Again Hats poured bleach on him, put a noose around his neck, and yelled, “This is MAGA country.” Investigators later discredited Smolett, but that didn’t stop then-Sen. Harris from propagating the lie. “[Jussie Smollett] is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery,” she wrote in 2019. “This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.”
The resurfaced clip shows Kamala Harris’ radically progressive past and is a reminder that the Democratic presidential nominee is either lying about her current positions on the border or simply has no principles that serve as a foundation of her beliefs. She has campaigned in favor of border security since becoming the top of the ticket after Joe Biden exited the race earlier this year, but a few weeks will not be enough to change her image crafted over decades.
The contrast between Vice President Harris and President Trump on immigration and border security is clear. While the Biden-Harris administration saw a 67 percent decline in deportations compared to the first Trump term, the Republican nominee has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history. After being appointed as the “border czar” at the beginning of Biden’s first term, Harris oversaw millions of illegal immigrants pouring over the US-Mexico border. In contrast, President Trump built hundreds of miles of border wall, instituted the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, and brought illegal entries into the United States down to historic lows under Title 42. The choice of who is best for the border is clear, and the American people will remember Harris’ chants of “down with deportation!”
