A survey by the ACLU from Kamala Harris' 2019 presidential run has resurfaced revealing that she supports sex reassignment surgery for immigrants in custody and wants to drastically cut funding to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The document, first reported by CNN, also asked Harris, then a senator, for her views on issues including the US prison system, statehood for Washington, D.C., abortion rights and drug decriminalization.
“The vice president's position has been shaped by three years of effective governance of the Biden-Harris administration,” a Harris campaign adviser told Fox News this week when asked about her response.
“I believe our nation's immigration detention system is out of control and that the unjust detention of thousands of individuals, families and children must end,” Harris wrote in the document.
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Then-Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, spoke to reporters on Jan. 21, 2019, at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, after announcing she would run for president that year. (AP/Manuel Balce Senator)
“I was one of the first senators to advocate for reducing funding for ICE after President Trump was elected, and I have led the effort to urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to reduce detention costs. As President, I will fight to pass the DONE (Oversight Not Detention Expansion) Act, which would increase oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's detention facilities, reduce detainers by at least 50%, and end funding for the construction or expansion of new facilities,” she said.
When asked by the ACLU, “As president, would you use executive power to ensure that transgender and non-binary people who rely on the state for health care, including those in prisons and immigration detention centers, have access to comprehensive gender transition-related care, including any necessary surgical care?” Harris answered “yes.”
“It is important that transgender people who rely on state care have access to the care they need, including access to treatment related to their gender transition. That's why, as Attorney General, I have pressed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide sex reassignment surgery to state inmates,” Harris wrote.
“I support policies that ensure federal prisoners and detainees have access to the medical care they need to transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained. Sex transition treatment is medically necessary, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to provide it,” she added.
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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris greets people after speaking during a campaign event at Throwback Brewery in Northampton, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, September 4. (Associated Press/Steven Senne)
Harris told the ACLU in 2019 that she was committed to ending the use of ICE detention.
“As attorney general, I notified all California law enforcement agencies on December 4, 2012 that they did not have to comply with ICE detention orders. As president, I will focus law enforcement on enhancing public safety, not on tearing apart immigrant families,” she said.
When the ACLU asked Harris, “Because drug use is better addressed as a public health issue (through treatment and other programs), do you support decriminalizing drug possession for personal use at the federal level?” Harris replied in favor.
In a letter to the ACLU, Harris wrote that she supports defunding ICE. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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“Throughout my career, I have supported treating drug addiction as a public health issue and focused on rehabilitation rather than incarceration for drug-related crimes,” Harris said in her response.
