Vice President Kamala Harris may visit the US-Mexico border on Friday as her campaign looks to close the gap with former President Donald Trump on immigration.
While Trump holds a lead in polling on immigration, Harris campaign officials see an opportunity to address GOP attacks over her border visits and highlight her work as California’s attorney general. The visit, coinciding with a period of low border crossings, comes as Harris intensifies her critique of Trump’s immigration policies. No final decision on the visit has been made.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, commentary and analysis on Harris’ border policy proposals and if this visit can help move the needle. If you’d like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Tayah Frye at [email protected].
Immigration Policy
Elizabeth Vaquera is the inaugural Director of the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute and an Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University. Vaquera's research focuses on vulnerable and diverse groups, particularly Latinos/as and immigrants. Her work has analyzed the character and importance of immigrant status, race, and ethnic identity in outcomes such as education, health, and emotional and social well-being. In addition to an extensive body of work published in leading peer-reviewed journals, Vaquera is the co-author of several books, the most recent of which, Education and Immigration, examines the educational experiences of immigrants and their children living in the U.S.
Marie Price is Professor of Geography and International Affairs and is also the President of the American Geographical Society (2016- present). A Latin American and migration specialist, her studies have explored human migration’s impact on development and social change, especially at the urban scale. In terms of policy, she is interested in strategies that promote migrant inclusion as well as the use of geographic sciences and technologies to address inequality and promote development. Price is currently funded by the NSF doing research on the US Mexican Border in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in a project titled “Geographies of Migration and (In)Security”. She was a co-author on a report issued by the Organization of American States in 2023 on the role of local authorities in the reception and integration of immigrants and refugees in cities across the Americas.
Law
Cori Alonso-Yoder is an Associate Professor of Fundamentals of Lawyering at the GW Law School. Alonso-Yoder is nationally recognized scholar on immigration legislation and the impacts of state, local and federal laws on immigrant communities. She specializes on the health policy of immigration.
Alberto Benítez is a Professor of Clinical Law; and Director of GW Law’s Immigration Clinic. Professor Benítez is an expert in Immigration Law. Benítez supervises students that handle a variety of immigration law matters including representing noncitizens, writing comments to proposed federal regulations, and disseminating information to the public.
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