The latest on the 2024 presidential campaign | CNN Politics

Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday started off with a testy back and forth about immigration.

She repeatedly pivoted to the bipartisan border security bill blocked by the GOP when pressed on the Biden administration’s handling of the US-Mexico border, taking a more hawkish stance while remaining vague on some of her previously held positions in a contentious interview.

Baier asked Harris if she felt like she owed the family of three women who were killed by immigrants an apology.

“Let me just say, first of all, those are tragic cases,” Harris said.

Before that, Harris and Baier went back and forth with Harris arguing that the Fox anchor was not letting her finish answering the question.

After she was asked how many illegal immigrants the Biden administration released into the country, Harris said shortly after being inaugurated, they moved a “bill to fix our immigration system.” Baier was pressing Harris on lines of GOP attack, like the Biden administration’s decision early on to repeal Trump-era policies.

Republicans have hammered the Biden administration for record border crossings over the last three years, casting blame on Harris, who’s been falsely labeled the “border czar.” Homeland Security officials have acknowledged that record migration in the Western Hemisphere — in part fueled by the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic — presented a steep challenge that strained an outdated immigration system.

“We recognized from day one that — to the point of this being your first question — it is a priority for us as a nation and for the American people,” she said, pointing to actions such as tightening penalties and increasing penalties for illegal crossings.

Harris also emphasized that the Biden administration came up with a bipartisan border plan — which she attacked Donald Trump for killing it to use it as a campaign issue. She added that the American people want solutions “and they want a president of the United States who is not playing political games with the issue.”

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post, which also was updated with more details and background on the immigration issue.