As a senator, Vice President Kamala Harris pushed for Congress to restrict the Department of Homeland Security’s capacity to hold and detain illegal immigrants caught crossing into the United States.

The push came years before immigration officials began releasing thousands of illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records, into the United States, because of a record-level surge in immigration during the Biden-Harris administration.

Back in July 2019, Harris introduced legislation that would block DHS from constructing more facilities to detain illegal immigrants. According to a summary of the bill, it would prohibit DHS “from using any federal funds to construct or expand immigration detention facilities and requires additional oversight of such facilities.”

Additionally, the bill would have made DHS come up with a plan to reduce the number of available beds for illegal immigrants and come up with “community-based alternatives to detention.”

She had introduced a similar bill back in May 2018 that also aimed to reduce the capacity for federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants.

If her legislation had succeeded, it likely would have exacerbated the illegal immigration crisis during the Biden administration as an estimated 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States.

Over the last few years, there have been reports of thousands of illegal immigrants being released because of limited detention space.

Thousands of illegal immigrants, including those with criminal records, were released in May 2023 ahead of an expected surge of illegal crossings because of the end of Title 42, the Washington Times reported. Title 42 was a Trump-era policy that allowed illegal immigrants to be turned back because of health concerns.

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The New York Post reported that 13,000 illegal immigrants were released onto the streets of San Diego last October because of limited shelter space.

Since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Harris has come under increasing scrutiny from conservatives, especially for her record as Biden’s “border czar.”

Republicans have pointed to Biden’s announcement in March 2021 giving Harris authority to respond to the crisis. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) traveled to the border on Thursday, saying that the crisis had been “engineered” by the Biden-Harris administration.

“Border czar and San Francisco radical Kamala Harris bears the responsibility for this disaster,” Johnson said as he spoke with reporters at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego.