ADRIAN MA, HOST:

The Democratic Party spent a good deal of the time during its convention this week trying to counter Republican claims that Democrats are weak on immigration. Jasmine Garsd covers immigration for NPR, and she joins us now to tell us about it. Hey, Jasmine.

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: Hi.

MA: So Jasmine, let’s get right to it. What was the message this week that Democrats were saying about immigration?

GARSD: So the messaging was that Democrats haven’t been weak on border security to begin with. I mean, they’ve been accused of that. But we were reminded throughout the week that the Biden administration has been veering more conservative on immigration, with actions like just drastically curbing asylum at the border. And at this week’s convention, the promise was that under Harris, this will continue. And we kept hearing this over and over again. She will be tough on the border, but she will also be humane. I think Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut summarized it really well.

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CHRIS MURPHY: Kamala Harris knows that we can be a nation of proud immigrants and a nation of strong immigration laws.

GARSD: But there was also this core theme that kept coming up throughout the week, which was that America is a nation of immigrants. This is part of the undeniable core identity of the U.S., and often Harris herself is a child of immigrants.

MA: A nation of immigrants. I mean, and embracing that idea – this is a really different tone than we’ve been hearing from Republicans, for instance, in their convention.

GARSD: Oh, completely different. I mean, compare that to former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, in which immigrants are painted as invaders. And he has said that they’re poisoning the blood of the country and painted them as a threat. That’s a centerpiece of his campaign. A lot of the messaging this last week at the DNC was, we don’t stand for that kind of rhetoric. It’s simply un-American. But it was also paired with the accusation that Republicans have not been taking action, that they’re all talk. Over and over again, we were reminded that Republicans killed a sweeping bipartisan immigration reform bill which would have strengthened the border, and Harris delivered the promise that that bill will get signed if she gets into office.

MA: OK, so Kamala Harris promising that, as president, that she would get tougher on the border. How’s that narrative going over with Democrats who might be further to the left on this issue?

GARSD: One of the complaints I’ve been hearing, especially among younger Democrats, is that the party is moving further to the right on immigration, and it’s been a palpable shift. I mean, in this week’s convention, there was a pivot, a noticeable pivot in how Democrats talk about immigration. I mean, consider – in past conventions, Democrats focused on accusing Republicans of being inhumane and callous. They would call out how Trump’s policies were cruel. They would talk about family separation. At this convention, Republicans were accused of being too weak. That is a word that kept coming up weak, weird and weak. It ended up being like sort of an arms race to show who can be tougher at the border. Here’s Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut again.

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MURPHY: People are saying that they’re weird, that they’re creepy. And they are weird. They are creepy. But even worse, they’re weak.

GARSD: And then he said, you know who isn’t weak? Kamala Harris. And that is the takeaway from this week’s DNC. Vice President Kamala Harris has positioned herself certainly not as vitriolically anti-immigration as Trump, but she’s indicated that she’s going to be hard on border policy.

MA: Interesting. And I guess that is one way to make an argument, right? That we’re not the ones who are weak. You’re the ones who are weak.

GARSD: It’s a very interesting pivot from prior years that they very much kind of turned the argument of weakness back on the Republican Party and said, actually, you’re weak. We are strong. It definitely veered more conservative.

MA: Jasmine, thanks so much for breaking this down for us.

GARSD: Thanks for having me.

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