Kamala Harris once pledged to “absolutely” close all privately run immigration detention centers “on day one” if she were to become president, according to a video obtained by The Post.
The newly resurfaced clip shows then-Senator Harris (D-CA) responding to a question at an October 2019 town hall in Iowa City, when she was running as a candidate in the 2020 presidential race.
“I want to know, when you become president, would you be committing to close the immigration detention centers?” the attendee asked.
Harris responded: “Absolutely, on day one. On day one.”
There are currently about 37,000 migrants in ICE detention nationwide, according to agency statistics — with almost half of them being held in private facilities used by the agency.
As of July 2024, up to 15,000 migrants were being detained across 18 private detention facilities, the stats show.
The Biden administration’s policy is to prioritize detaining the most egregious threats to the country, as officials battle a record surge at the US-Mexico border and a lack of detention space.
Of the more than 37,000 migrants in ICE detention currently, more than 10,000 are convicted criminals, while another 4,000 have pending criminal charges, according to agency data.
During the Iowa City town hall, Harris recalled a visit to one of the private detention centers in Florida, which housed migrant children.
“This means that their business model is that people are profiting off the incarceration of other human beings,” the Democrat said.
“I on day one will shut them down. That is not how our taxpayer dollars should be spent.”
Private detention centers are often owned by security companies, including GEO Group and Corecivic — both publicly traded organizations that invest in prisons and mental health facilities.
Harris, now the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, has not officially outlined her specific policy agenda if she were to win the November election.
A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign didn’t respond to The Post’s request for comment.
As vice president, Harris was tapped by President Biden to serve as a “border czar” to address illegal migration from Central America.
She has faced attacks from her opponent former President Donald Trump over her record on on the border, with illegal crossings skyrocketing to record levels under the Biden administration.
In 2018, Harris likened ICE agents to the KKK while questioning Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, Ronald Vitiello.
In response to the “abolish ICE” movement, Harris also in 2018 called on lawmakers to “critically reexamine” ICE and start “from scratch,” saying “there’s a lot that is wrong with the way that it’s conducting itself.”
Since entering the 2024 race, Harris, 59, has vowed to be tough on the border, despite her previous remarks and record-breaking number of illegal crossings during her administration.
“I was attorney general of a border state. I went after the transnational gangs, the drug cartels and the human traffickers,” Harris said in Arizona on Friday.
“I prosecuted them in case after case and I won, so I know what I’m talking about.”
