Harris to call for tighter asylum, border control measures, campaign says

By Trevor Hunnicutt

DOUGLAS, Arizona (Reuters) -U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will call on Friday for tighter asylum restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, as she delivers a speech in Arizona, a campaign official said.

Under the proposal, Harris will call for a change to an existing asylum ban at the border by President Joe Biden's administration that would leave it in place for longer, the official said.

Harris will face off against Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election and immigration is a top voter concern, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

Trump has criticized Harris for record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing the border in recent years. Harris blames Trump for encouraging Republican lawmakers to sink a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate that aimed to tighten border security.

Biden issued a sweeping asylum ban in June that allows migrants caught crossing illegally to be quickly deported or turned back to Mexico when the daily average of border arrests tops 2,500 over a week.

The ban took effect immediately and will remain in place until border arrests drop below an average of 1,500 per day for one week, followed by a two-week waiting period.

Harris is expected to propose changing the policy to lower the 1,500 threshold that allows it to be lifted.

The Biden policy was issued on an emergency basis and Biden officials have considered toughening it when it is finalized.

Harris will detail the changes in a speech in the border town of Douglas, Arizona.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by David Ljunggren and David Gregorio)