Johnson To Visit Border as Immigration Remains Top 2024 Issue
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tasked with addressing the U.S.-Mexico border crisis shortly after taking office alongside President Joe Biden—earning her the informal title of “border czar”—is now facing criticism for her failure to make significant progress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has announced plans to visit the California border to spotlight the Biden-Harris administration’s ineffective border policies while promoting election integrity legislation. Johnson will hold a press conference at the "Whiskey 8" border fence in San Ysidro, California, and will also tour U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities.
“California, particularly San Diego, has been a major area for border crossings, with San Ysidro being a focal point,” a report stated.
The use of the term “border czar” has sparked debate between Republicans and Democrats. While Republicans have applied this label to Harris, Democrats argue that it was never an official title. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries emphasized, “She was never assigned the position of ‘border czar,’” adding that Republicans are fabricating this narrative.
Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar echoed this sentiment, calling the Republican claims political theater. “This is just Republicans playing politics for Donald Trump,” he said.
However, Speaker Johnson stated that Harris is directly responsible for the failed border policies, asserting she is a “co-owner, co-author, co-conspirator in all the policies that got us into the mess.”
After President Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes of migration, the media and Republicans began referring to her as the “border czar.”
This scrutiny comes as new polling data shows former President Donald Trump leading Harris in five of the seven key swing states. An AtlasIntel poll indicates that Trump has the upper hand in Pennsylvania (51% to 48.1%) and Michigan (50.6% to 47.2%).
Trump holds a narrow lead in Arizona (49.8% to 48.6%), Georgia (49.6% to 49%), and Wisconsin (49.7% to 48.2%). Harris leads in Nevada (50.5% to 47.7%) and North Carolina (50.5% to 48.1%).
AtlasIntel, a top-rated polling firm from the 2020 election, suggests that if Trump wins the five battleground states he currently leads, he would secure 290 Electoral College votes, surpassing Harris’s 248 votes, and win the 2024 election.
These polls were conducted between September 20 and 25, with a margin of error of two to three percentage points.
In response to the poll results, a Trump spokesperson told Newsweek, “Americans are fed up with Kamala Harris and her failed policies, which have caused rising inflation, an out-of-control border, and rampant crime. She is weak, failed, and dangerously liberal, and the American people can see right through it.”
The poll results indicate that Trump is poised to win two of Harris’s most critical “blue wall” battleground states. To win the election, Harris would need to secure Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, along with the Electoral College vote in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which she is favored to win based on current polling.
If Trump wins Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, he could secure victory in November. He could also win by flipping just one of Wisconsin or Michigan, or by winning all four Sun Belt swing states: Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Nevada.
Recent data from reliable polling firms, including Trafalgar Group and Insider Advantage, suggests that Trump is on track for a potential landslide victory in 2024. The electoral map currently projects Trump with 296 electoral votes to Harris’s 226, with significant gains in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where Trump is leading by narrow but growing margins.
These traditionally Democratic-leaning states seem to be shifting in favor of the former president as the 2024 election approaches.