US Vice President, and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, has pledged to tackle the issue of illegal immigration with tough measures if she wins the upcoming US Presidential Elections 2024. During her tenure as a senator from California, she, however, was completely against deportation.
A clip that shows Kamala Harris passionately participating in a 2018 Los Angeles parade, has gone viral. The US VP can be seen excitedly chanting with other demonstrators: “ Up, Up for Education. Down, Down for deportation!"
Harris had been invited as the marshall of the 33rd annual parade, an event typically held to honour the legacy of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The video has gained 1.2 million views.
Upon being elected as the Vice President, Kamala Harris had implemented strategies aimed at reducing deportations. According to data by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, the Biden administration has seen a 67 percent drop in the expulsion of criminal foreigners.
The Trump administration deported 485,930 undocumented immigrants with criminal records or pending charges, whereas the Biden-Harris administration's total was 158,931.
During their campaigns ahead of the US Presidential Elections 2024, leaders from both sides including Donald Trump, and Kamala Harris have repeatedly flayed each other over the issue of illegal immigration.
Harris has voiced concerns over Trump’s plans to reinstate deportations for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes, warning of potential "mass deportation" camps.
“They have promised to carry out the largest deportation in American history,” she said during a speech at a gathering organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. “How's that gonna happen, massive raids? Massive detention camps?” said Harris, according to US Media reports.
Interestingly, at the parade, Jussie Smollet, a former rising television star who starred in the fictional series Empire, was also present.
Notably, Smollet was found guilty of committing a hoax hate crime in January 2019. According to reports, he had made up a story that two people wearing MAGA hats had jumped at him, doused him in bleach, and put a noose around his neck.
The then California Senator, Kamala Harris, had called out the attack in a social media post as “attempted modern-day lynching.” The US VP hasn't removed the post even after Smollet's claim was entirely discredited, reported Daily Mail.
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