Border Control Is Focus of Many Voters_ Former Chief of US Office of Citizenship

Joining us now with reactions to last night's debate is Alfonso Aguilar. He's the former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship and now the director of Hispanic Engagement at the American Principles Project. Alfonso, it's good to see you starting off. Have you heard from any previously undecided voters about what they thought about last night's debate? Not really, but I would imagine that Trump did very well with them because he really focused on the issues that undecided voters care about, mainly inflation and the border crisis. And he was very effective in tying those problems to Kamala Harris, clearly establishing that it's the Biden-Harris administration's policies that have created the mess that we're in. So I would imagine that he did very well with them and in that sense won the debate. Remember, debates are won politically if they help you move the needle. Kamala Harris looked very polished, very rehearsed. She was an effective debater. But at the end, did she connect with voters? I don't think so. You work within the Hispanic community promoting these family values. So from your conversations, what are the issues at the top of these voters' minds? Obviously, like average Americans, inflation is the number one issue. It's hitting Hispanic working families greatly. Also, the border crisis, they see it's a national security issue. It's leading to increased crime in urban centers, affecting their standard of life. But they also know it's a humanitarian issue. The policies of the Biden-Harris administration are encouraging good people from abroad to make a very dangerous journey to our southern border, putting their lives at risk. Over 60 percent of women and girls are victims of sexual assault, rape. Massive migration facilitates child trafficking. We know the administration has lost over 300,000 unaccompanied minors that they've lost contact with. Then finally, the family issues are very important. Particularly, they're very concerned about parental rights. This is pushed by Democrats to sexualize kids in schools, pushing gender ideology in schools without consulting with parents, and allowing trans men to participate in girls' sports. That really freaks out Hispanics. Not surprisingly, in the last New York Times-Siena poll, about 42 percent of Hispanics support Trump, compared to 51 for Kamala Harris. That's a very low number for a Democratic candidate, and it shows that Hispanics are really moving towards Trump's candidacy. Yes, I want to focus a little more on what you mentioned there. Obviously, this border crisis is also a humanitarian crisis. Also, obviously, a lot of the illegal immigrants arriving in the U.S. are from Latin America. So, do Hispanics that you speak with in the community, are they divided at all over border policy? Generally not. If you look at the polls, again, they think Trump would do a better job. Contrary to what President Biden has said, he said he wanted to build a moral and humane system. What he's doing is inhumane and immoral. You're encouraging people from all over the world, and certainly from Latin America who are poor, to make a very dangerous trip. That trip from Central America to the southern border, that's a corridor of terror where people are victims of all sorts of crime. They're abused by cartels and gangs. So, it's not human. You know how many people are dying because they've been incentivized by this administration, but they don't care. So, I think Hispanics are acutely aware of the dangers that migrants themselves go through coming to the southern border. So, it's not only a national security issue, a problem for Americans in the country, but the policies of the administration are not good for migrants themselves. So, what do these voters want to see from the government in terms of these border policy issues? Well, we've done some polling, actually, of Hispanic voters in battleground states, and they're very supportive of what President Trump has called for, remaining in Mexico, expanding the wall system, even supportive of removal, of deportation. So, things have really changed on this debate, on this issue, because we've never seen this type of numbers since the government started recording the numbers. Think about it. I mean, about 10 million people have come to our southern border in 10 years. I don't know of any displacement of people so large globally, really, in our recent history. So, I think the American people and Hispanics certainly are aware of this, and they're very supportive of the policies that President Trump has outlined to deal with the border. Well, in last night's debate, the moderator did mention that President Biden's administration has finally come out with a harsher, if you will, policy for the border and these illegal crossings. Are Hispanic voters in the community that you're talking to, were they happy with this change? They're not buying it. They're not buying it because, actually, the moderator asked, he asked Kamala Harris, why are you doing it six months before the election, right? For years, they've had this issue that they've created, and they didn't do anything. In fact, they didn't want to call it a crisis, as you may remember. So, I don't think American voters, Hispanics, buy it. And let me tell you, I think Hispanic voters know that the measures that they put in place, and that so-called bipartisan border security bill that they supported, actually would not solve the problem. It would actually perpetuate the problem, because it would still allow thousands of people to come in the country every single day. And at the end, it's not only incentivizing people to come to our border, but also, they facilitated asylum abuse, because it's very easy for anyone to show up on the border, and with little or no evidence, say that they're going to be persecuted in their home country, and they're going to be let in. That's why this administration has allowed millions, millions of people in the country, and they're all over the country. Now, looking a little bit at the bigger picture here, as a political analyst yourself, after watching last night's debates, do you feel like there are still unanswered questions that voters still have? Well, I think certainly about Kamala Harris. Again, the New York Times poll said that about at least 28% of voters still don't know enough about her, and 47% of voters think that she's an extreme left. So I think for many voters, undecided voters, I think they heard her, and they're still not clear what she's for. She talked about being a unifier, and that's about it. In terms of concrete proposals, she was very light on substance. She talked about expanding tax credit for small businesses, or the child tax credit. That's not an economic plan. So I think there are still many doubts on people's minds, and I suspect that, again, she did well in the debate. But in terms of actually swaying undecided voters, I don't think she helped herself. That's why I think President Trump really, at the end, won the debate. Not surprisingly, right after the debate, the Harris campaign is calling for another debate. I mean, you usually do that when you watch the debate. I think they realize that while she may have shown great debate skills, she really didn't connect with undecided voters. So I mean, you do mention this issue of unity, right? So in her closing statement, Vice President Kamala Harris did mention that America needs to be more unified, and she says that President Trump was stuck in the past, almost. Do you think that resonates at all with voters, or do you think that actually might sway voters in the opposite direction? Well, the vast majority of voters believe the country is on the wrong track. And one aspect of that is that they recognize that this country has never been so divided. President Biden said he was going to be a unified president. He hasn't been. He's gone after conservatives. They generalized about the supporters of President Trump. He received 75 million votes in the last election, and they call the so-called MAGA Republicans fascist and anti-democratic. They really have divided the country like no other president in the past. So it was really rich for her to say that she wants to unify the country. I don't think people buy that. Well, stepping away a little from the debate, today is 9-11. It's the 23rd anniversary of this very tragic terrorist attack. And at the 9-11 commemoration event today, we did see that Harris and Trump greeted each other quite cordially, actually. So when we're thinking about and remembering moments like 9-11, how important is it for Americans to stay united? Well, very important. And sadly, a lot of experts, intelligence, national security experts, believe that we're closer to another 9-11 because of the irresponsible immigration policies of Kamala Harris. As you know, the number of individuals linked to terrorist organizations that come through the border has gone up dramatically. We know of those who've been detained, but many others I'm sure have come in without being detected. So the FBI director, Christopher Wray, has said that we are a state of alert. And one of the main reasons is because the uncontrolled border. So sadly, I think today as we commemorate 9-11, remember why 9-11 happened. It's because we lower our guard. We let these people in when they should have never been allowed in. And that's exactly what's happening right now with the Biden administration. I sincerely hope that we don't have another 9-11. I was there. I was, as you know, a member of the Bush administration. I was in Washington when it happened. And, you know, I still remember vividly, I don't want to see anything like that happen again. But this administration is doing everything they can so that something like that happens again. It feels, when you think of what this administration is doing in terms of the border, it feels like we're in September 10 mentality rather than post 9-11 mentality. Well, it really, it is such a I think for most voters, no matter who ends up in the Oval Office come November, hopefully both sides can work together together to prevent something like that from ever happening again and keeping Americans safe. Salvanzo Aguilar, former Chief of the Office of Citizenship and Director of Hispanic Engagement at the American Principles Project. Thank you. Thank you so much.