WASHINGTON — Three months after becoming a senator in 2021, Mark Kelly had a bone to pick with the Biden-Harris administration.
President Joe Biden had just given his first speech to Congress, and Kelly, D-Ariz., accused him of failing to address “the immediate crisis at the border” and promised to “continue to hold this administration accountable” on the issue. At the time, the White House was reluctant to call it a crisis, supporting left-wing activists who believed the word contributed to the Republican Party’s anti-immigration rhetoric.
While he was A Biden ally on most issues, Kelly has continued to be a vocal critic of border security. He went after the White House for inadequately funding Arizona’s migrant programs and urged the administration not to reverse a Trump-era policy known as Title 42 that made it easier to turn away migrants at the U.S. border. When the White House repealed the policy anyway in 2022, Kelly called the decision “wrong” and “unacceptable” in one statement.
Two years later, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris recalibrated, issuing executive actions last month to crack down on migration. And Kelly is on the shortlist to be Harris’ running mate after Biden dropped his re-election bid.
“We worked together on this in a very positive way. There have been disagreements at times,” Kelly told NBC News, while praising “the steps the administration has taken recently and the results we’ve seen from it” in reducing border crossings.
“The executive action that the president and vice president implemented was a very positive thing,” Kelly said.
‘Legitimate credibility in border security’
Kelly’s stature as a senator from a border state who held aggressive positions before becoming popular in the party led some Harris allies to see him as an ideal running mate who could help neutralize what may be her greatest political vulnerability. Former President Donald Trump put immigration at the center of his case against her. And unlike other vice presidential candidates like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kelly is the only one taking a serious look, who lives in a state along the southern border and has been at the forefront of this matter.
“Mark Kelly is the only candidate who does exactly what [Harris] need to do. It needs to have legitimate credibility in matters of border security. … Kelly solves this and increases the share of the Latino vote,” said Mike Madrid, a former GOP operative who opposes Trump. “He can customize because he lives in a border state.”
“There is legitimacy in saying, ‘Yes, the border is out of control, but it also needs to be protected. You can do both without being racist or without being a bad person.’ And that’s what he does with great elegance,” said Madrid.
Even some pro-immigration activists see Kelly as a solid choice, citing her support for legal paths to citizenship and her ability to blunt Republican attacks on Harris across the border.
“Sen. Kelly has proven experience and expertise in border security, and also supports citizenship for Dreamers and long-term residents. Her experience would help protect the Harris administration from Republican attacks on immigration,” said Kerri Talbot, former Senate Democratic counsel and executive director of the advocacy group Immigration Hub.
Some Republicans say choosing Kelly would not solve Harris’ problems.
“Smoke and mirrors,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is running to be the next Senate GOP leader.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chairman of the party’s campaign arm, said Democrats are “all complicit” in border policy failures.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, co-author of a border security bill that Trump successfully pressured Republicans to kill, said he worked more closely with Arizona’s other senator, independent Kyrsten Sinema, than with Kelly on the issue.
‘Donald Trump wanted this for the election’
But other Republicans who have worked on immigration and asylum policy say Kelly has better instincts on the issue than Harris, who is still finding her footing on the issue as a presidential candidate.
“It’s too late for Biden and Harris at the border. This is the only area where he has credibility,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said of Kelly. “The reason he has been outspoken is because he is a senator from a border state and has seen this firsthand. … I believe he has much better instincts.”
Now, Kelly is aligned with Harris on how to respond to Trump’s attacks on border policy: attacking him for blocking attempts to resolve the issue and then using it as a political weapon. At a rally Tuesday in Atlanta, Harris attacked Trump for rejecting the law, telling the crowd: “Donald Trump doesn’t care about border security. He only cares about himself.”
Speaking to NBC News, Kelly cited the bipartisan bill that sought to raise the bar for asylum and trigger border closures when migration patterns warrant it.
“We had comprehensive border security legislation, bipartisan issues, something that doesn’t happen here very often on this issue. It’s very rare. And then Donald Trump wanted this for the election. So my Republican colleagues ran away from that,” Kelly said. “It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen since I’ve been here in the United States Senate.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
