While MAGA media claims that Democrats did
not even discuss the border at last week’s convention, today CofA Blog features
transcripts of several speakers from last week’s Democratic convention* talking
about the border: First, the nominee
herself, Kamala Harris:
KH: Let me be clear.
After decades in law enforcement, I know the
importance of Safety and Security, especially at our border.
Last year Joe and I brought together Democrats
and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The
border patrol endorsed it.
But Donald Trump believes a border deal would
hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well I
refuse to play politics with our security and here is my pledge to you.
As president, I will bring back the bipartisan
border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law. I know-
I know we can live up to our proud Heritage as
a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create
an earned Pathway to citizenship and secure our border.
, , ,
More from Kamala Harris at DNC 2024
I have a question for you. Who really wants a
solution at our border?
Our Administration worked on the most
significant border security bill in decades. It went after transnational gangs
drug cartels and human traffickers that came into our country illegally.
I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won.
So here is my pledge to you.
As president, I will bring back the border
security bill that Donald Trump killed and I will sign it into law and show
Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.
[APPLAUSE]
ANOTHER DEM SPEAKER ABOUT THE BORDER
Veronica Escobar, U.S. Representative from Texas
Like countless Texans I grew up going back and
forth North across the border from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez. My family would
shop, have dinner, go to the doctor, pick up medicines. The border is my
beloved home, the place where my children grew up.
Forget what you hear on the news. I'm from
there.
When it comes to the Border, hear me when I say,
you know nothing, Donald Trump.
He and his Republican imitators see the border
and immigration as a political opportunity to exploit instead of an issue to
address. Congress hasn't passed comprehensive immigration reform in nearly four
decades. The three times they tried Republicans blocked legislation that would
have funded border security and created a more Humane immigration system.
They are not serious.
People, you know who is serious? Kamala Harris.
I met the vice president when she visited El
Paso. I saw firsthand how she engaged with law enforcement, migrants, and human
rights Advocates. She was curious. She asked questions. She listened. And she
didn't care if the cameras were on.
Most of all she recognized that the situation
at the border is complicated, as filled with opportunities as it is with
challenges. All Republicans have to offer is demonization and Bluster.
Democrats have Solutions.
With Kamala Harris as President we can live up
to the promise of America, we can strengthen legal Pathways to immigration, we
can secure our borders, and and we can treat with dignity those who seek a
better future within [Applause] them.
ANOTHER ONE
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy
I was the Democratic senator who negotiated
that bill to secure the border with President Biden vice president Harris. I
want to tell you this as well.
Donald Trump's allies weren't just in the room,
they helped us write the whole bill. It was a bipartisan bill. It was a tough
Bill, 20 billion in new border security, gave the president the emergency power
to shut down the Border, made compassionate but serious reforms to our Asylum
system. One Republican said it would have had almost unanimous support if it
weren't for Donald Trump.
Trump killed that bill. And he did it because
he knew that if we fixed the Border he'd lose his ability to divide us.
His ability to Fan the Flames of fear about
people who come from different places- right you guys know this right- hate and
division, that's Trump's oxygen, right. People like Trump and JD Vance they
need it to survive in politics.
People are saying that they're weird, that
they're creepy, and they are weird, they are creepy.
But even worse, they're weak.
Kamala Harris is not weak.
For years Kamala Harris has been tough as nails
when it comes to securing our border. When she was a California prosecutor she
went after drug smugglers, human traffickers. She put 100 gang members away in
a single sweep.
Trump says that a safe Nation can't be an
immigrant Nation.
That's flat wrong and Kamala Harris knows it.
She knows this too: engraved on the Statue of
Liberty is a poem the last line reads, “I lift my lamp beside the golden shore.”
For Generations, that lamp has called people,
to start a brave New Life in America. My ancestors, your ancestors, and the
parents of the next president of the United States of America, Kamala Harris
knows that we can be a nation of proud immigrants and a nation of strong
immigration laws.
That's why when she's president she will bring
that border Bill back.
And Kamala Harris is going to pass it.
How do I know this? Because in this race there
is only one candidate who has ever been willing to do the redeeming work of
making our country better, of recognizing that we do not have to choose between
celebrating our heritage and enforcing our laws, right.
The Beautiful the beautiful thing about America
is that we can be both. We can be a nation of immigrants who love their country
and a nation with a secure border.
And there is only one candidate there is only
one candidate who can deliver that vision of America and it's Kamala Harris
thank you very much Democrats.
ANOTHER
ONE
Welcome Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar
On the other side of the border, the
traffickers, they pack migrants into 17 wheelers like cattle, 50 100 at a time.
Then they seal the doors. That's when the calls come. We hear them desperate
terrified gasping for air.
Now sometimes we get there in time.
Sometimes despite our best efforts, we can't.
When Donald Trump comes down to Texas stands
next to officers in uniforms just like mine, he's not there to help us. Don't think
that not for a second. He is a self-serving man. I mean, look.
Just like when he killed the Border Bill he
just made our jobs harder.
Now Kamala on the other hand has been fighting
border crime for years. She's gone down to Mexico and worked to stop the
traffickers and when the traffickers didn't stop, she put him in jail.
Now down in my neck of the woods we call that
fooling around and finding out. I may be paraphrasing a bit. We protect.
Now the Border sheriffs that I know and I,
we're like Kamala. We protect and serve. We enforce the law. We show compassion
and we fight like hell to protect our border.
Because as we all know in Texas, ganamos, when
we fight we win.
Another
one
I'm Pete Aguilar chairman of the democratic
caucus.
For four generations my family has called
California home. I grew up in San Bernardino, a working class community defined
by Family, Faith, and hard work.
These values shared by Latino families across
this country are what made my family's American Dream possible. And only Kamala
Harris and Tim Walz will protect the American dream, so that every family can
earn a living, own a home, and reach their full potential.
This is a vision for America that Donald Trump
will never understand. All he knows is chaos and division. He talks about
tearing American families apart, pitting neighbor against neighbor, Community
against Community.
Compare that to what Kamala Harris has done as
vice president. Almost half a million people who live here and are married to a
US citizen can now apply for lawful permanent residents. DCO recipients who
graduated college have easier access to work visas.
And we would have much more security at the
border if Donald Trump hadn't tanked the bipartisan Bill.
Folks, we don't have to choose between a secure
border and building an America for all. Under President Harris we can and will
do both.
As a prosecutor she took on transnational gangs
and cartels. As president she will fight for Pathways to citizen ship.
I can tell you as the highest ranking Latino in
Congress, our community understands the stakes in this election, because we
believe in the promise of this country.
We believe our nation is stronger when we keep
families together. We believe our Union is more perfect when dreamers become
doctors teachers construction workers and military service members.
Latinos believe in that American dream and a
brighter future, one where we secure our border, fix our broken immigration
system, and unlock Economic Opportunity for all and together we will win thank
[Music]
[END OF TRANSCRIPTS, AI generated
Another addition to the CofA Blog
Transcript Project https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2024/08/what-is-transcript-project-at-city-of.html a service for writers seeking accurate quotes and readers who prefer reading to watching videos
Weblogged by Kay Ebeling
!!!
*
Ordinarily I include links to the videos when I
post transcripts, but I got these from several different places and then after
I washed the copy through HTML and washed it sentence case, I lost track of where
I got which transcripts. Hey, I'm just an old lady avoiding a life full of Bingo
by writing a blog .
In fact, I found this quote in the transcript, I
think it was right before Escobar spoke, but not sure who said it. It's worth
publishing as the words of yet another speaker at the Democratic convention
last week who spoke about the border:
"The polarization on immigration is so painful. Let's
be clear. The border is broken. But this year when Democrats and Republicans
worked together to finally write new border laws, we were blocked. We all know who sabotaged us. We reject the divisiveness, we reject the
dysfunction, we reject the Deception . . . This nation built by immigrants is a
rare and beautiful thing and we joyfully accept the challenge to work across
party lines to secure our border, to treat people like human beings and to move
our country."
Could have been spoken by me...
!!!
AI generated / cleaned up
Another addition to the CofA Blog Transcript Project https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2024/08/what-is-transcript-project-at-city-of.html
Weblogged by Kay Ebeling
Volunteering for Harris/Walz with passion to get USA to stop self destructing under Trump
[Applause]
