Vice President Kamala Harris, in a resurfaced American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) questionnaire from her 2019 presidential campaign, expressed support for gender transition surgeries for detained migrants and proposed significant cuts to funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The questionnaire, which was initially reported by CNN, also asked then-Senator Harris about her stance on various issues, including the U.S. prison system, statehood for Washington, D.C., abortion access, and the decriminalization of drugs.
“The Vice President’s positions have been shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris Administration,” a Harris campaign adviser told Fox News this week in response to the resurfaced document.
Harris’s responses in the document emphasized her concerns about the U.S. immigration detention system. “Our immigrant detention system is out of control, and I believe we must end the unfair incarceration of thousands of individuals, families, and children,” she wrote.
Harris also highlighted her efforts to decrease funding for ICE. “I was one of the first Senators after President Trump was elected to advocate for a decrease in funding to ICE. I have led efforts to urge the Senate Appropriations Committee to decrease detention dollars. As president, I will fight to pass my DONE (Detention Oversight Not Expansion) Act into law, which would increase oversight of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, slash detention by at least 50%, and halt funding for the construction or expansion of new facilities,” she stated.
In her response to the ACLU’s question about access to medical care for transgender and nonbinary people, including those in immigration detention, Harris affirmed her support. “It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition,” Harris wrote. “That’s why, as Attorney General, I pushed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide gender transition surgery to state inmates.”
She continued, “I support policies ensuring that federal prisoners and detainees are able to obtain medically necessary care for gender transition, including surgical care, while incarcerated or detained. Transition treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to deliver transition treatment.”
The questionnaire also revealed that Harris committed to ending the use of ICE detainers. “As Attorney General, I issued a bulletin on December 4, 2012, informing all California law enforcement that they did not have to comply with ICE detainers. As president, I will focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not tearing apart immigrant families,” she explained.
Harris also supported the decriminalization of all drug possession for personal use, responding affirmatively to the ACLU’s question about addressing drug use as a public health issue. “Throughout my career, I have supported treating drug addiction as a public health issue, focusing on rehabilitation over incarceration for drug-related offenses,” she said.
In her response to the ACLU document, Harris reiterated her stance on reducing ICE funding, underscoring her broader approach to immigration and criminal justice reform.
