Former President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric on illegal immigration on Sunday, posting an ominous image to X, formerly Twitter, about Vice President Kamala Harris and security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The image, posted to the former president’s official X account with nearly 5 million views, depicts a shadowy male figure wielding a knife and approaching a woman in a dimly lit alley. Written on the photo are the words “No One Is Safe With Kamala’s Open Border”—an apparent reference to his fierce criticisms of the Biden administration’s immigration policies regarding the southern border.
Some Republicans, including Trump and his running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance, have labeled Harris as Biden’s “border czar,” though she was never officially given that title. Biden assigned her the task of addressing the “root causes” of migration to the United States from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, continued on Sunday to post other ominous campaign messaging photos signaling the destruction of the United States with a potential Harris presidency.
Newsweek contacted Trump’s campaign and Harris’ spokesperson via email on Sunday for comment.
In a summer attack ad, Trump accused Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, of “intentionally unsecur[ing] the border.” The ad claimed that the vice president “halted construction of President Trump’s border wall” and “took more than 94 executive actions to unsecure the border.”
Trump has repeatedly targeted Harris in his campaign messaging. In August, he shared a bullet-point list on X detailing how “KAMALA INTENTIONALLY UNSECURED THE BORDER.” The post, which at the time had been viewed 5.5 million times, included claims that Harris “opposes all deportations” and “supports deadly sanctuary cities.”
The former president has also accused Harris of supporting “mass amnesty for millions of illegals” and wanting to “give them government benefits.”
Harris, meanwhile, has defended the Biden administration’s approach to illegal immigration, arguing that long-term solutions are needed to address the complexity of the situation.
During a 2021 joint news conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Harris said that the U.S. “will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders. If you come to our border, you will be turned back.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is seen in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2021. Former President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric on illegal immigration on Sunday, posting an ominous image to X, formerly Twitter, about Harris and security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
AFP / Getty Images/MANDEL NGAN
The Biden administration has defended its border policies, pointing to increased funding for border security technology and personnel. Officials also highlight efforts to work with Central American countries to address the factors driving migration, including poverty, violence, and climate change.
During Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta, she said the former president “doesn’t care about the border, he only cares about himself.”
“Donald Trump has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk…”
Republicans, however, argue that these measures have been insufficient to stem the flow of migrants at the southern border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported over 2 million encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2023, a record high. Representative Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, recently held a press conference in Texas, calling out the Biden-Harris administration for not doing enough to enforce tougher border security measures.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has forgotten us. They’ve abandoned us. We’re on our own. We’ve been on our own. And so, we can either complain about the issue or we can roll up our sleeves and get to work,” he said.
