As candidate in 2019, Harris said she'd close migrant detention facilities 'on day one'

WASHINGTON (TND) — The best course of action at the Southern border is a hot topic in any Presidential election year, including the last one, when then-Senator Kamala Harris was vying to be president.

At a town hall in Iowa City in October 2019, an audience member asked her, “When you become President, would you be committing to close immigration detention centers?”

Harris responded, “Absolutely. On day one, on day one." She added, "People are profiting off the incarceration of other human beings. On day one we’ll shut them down. That’s not how our taxpayer dollars should be spent.”

That old statement is garnering new criticism over how Harris may navigate the volatile situation at the border today as president.

In an interview with The National DeskTuesday,Former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionMark Morgan said, "Her comments to get rid of these facilities are beyond just being reckless and irresponsible. It defies the law you have to have a process that applies consequences and deterrence. and detention is one of those commonsense elements."

Another one of her 2019 statements is also coming under scrutiny.

During a CNN Town Hall, she was talking about Donald Trump's treatment and rhetoric of migrants who have come to the United States.

“This administration has decided to vilify them and to trade on them for the sake of this president’s medieval vanity project called a wall," Harris said.

Those sentiments appear to run counter to what Vice President Harris is saying now, vowing to be tough on the border.

In a new political ad from the Harris campaign, a voice says, “As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling drugs and weapons across the border. As Vice President, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades.”

The situation at the southern border has changed since 2019 so it's feasible the Vice President’s viewpoints have changed as well.

That is central to why more and more are calling on her to be interviewed on the subject, and so many others, to clearly explain her policies and why some appear to have profoundly evolved.

The Washington Post editorial board suggests, “Elections aren’t just about winning. They’re about accumulating political capital for a particular agenda which ms harris can’t do unless she articulates one.”

With the Democratic National Convention just days away, the Harris campaign says her policy positions will be laid out clearly.

Many now are watching to see if they reflect presidential candidate Harris from then or now.