Vice President Kamala Harris faced a critical audience during a town hall with undecided Latino voters in Las Vegas, where she defended her administration’s immigration policy. The event, hosted by Univision, highlighted the importance of this key voting bloc in the upcoming elections.
Harris emphasized the Biden administration’s approach to immigration, drawing attention to the bipartisan border security bill. She highlighted that this bill was supported by “one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate” but ultimately sabotaged by former President Donald Trump.
The immigration issue has become a major point of contention in the political landscape, with both Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, using it as a cornerstone of their campaigns. They have blamed undocumented immigrants for a surge in drug trafficking, particularly the synthetic opioid fentanyl, across the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump, in particular, has made inflammatory statements about immigrants, claiming they are “the worst murderers and terrorists you’ve ever seen.”
Vance, too, has focused heavily on the issue, accusing Harris of failing to stop the flow of drugs, including cannabis and fentanyl disguised as candy, across the border. However, data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission paints a different picture, revealing that 86.4% of those sentenced for fentanyl trafficking are U.S. citizens, and the majority of drug-related arrests involve Americans, not undocumented migrants.
Harris’s town hall comes at a critical time for Democrats, who are seeking to retain Latino support. Latinos represent the largest minority group in the U.S., comprising nearly 20% of the total population, with an estimated 36 million eligible Latino voters.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Univision town hall in Florida was postponed due to Hurricane Milton. However, Fox News has announced that Trump will hold a town hall next week, focusing specifically on women’s issues—another key voting bloc that polls suggest he has struggled to reach. The upcoming elections are shaping up to be a tight race, with both parties vying for the support of key demographics like Latinos and women.
