Before joining the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris spent years as a senator opposing immigration enforcement, an investigation into her background found.

The Harris campaign is rushing to soften the new Democratic presidential candidate's image on border security, with allies explicitly distancing the vice president from appointing a “secretary for border affairs.” A Harris campaign representative said she Keep in place Under the Biden administration, an executive order was issued to crack down on illegal border crossings, and she Election Advertising This positions her as a defender of the Border Patrol more than President Donald Trump.

But as a senator from California, Harris has been an outspoken opponent of increased border security measures, and immigration advocates view her Senate record as far-left.

“She doesn't have any good votes. It's all zeros or Fs,” Eric Ruark, director of research for NumbersUSA, told the Daily Caller News Foundation about Sen. Harris' voting record.

NumbersUSA is a Washington, DC-based organization that advocates for stronger border security policies and a reduction in illegal immigration. The group is widely known for its Congressional Scorecard, which assesses how lawmakers vote on immigration issues. (RELATED: County Supervisors Call for End to Sanctuary Policy After Illegal Immigrant Arrested on Murder Suspect)

“A senator like Harris has forced me to give myself an F- to really gauge how bad the immigration issue is,” Ruark continued. “As a senator, her actions say it all on immigration.”

Harris' Senate voting record shows she F-ratingThis is the lowest score ever given by NumbersUSA. Harris received low marks on a range of immigration enforcement measures, including reducing “bounties” on illegal immigrants, border security, internal security, inviting amnesty, and several other related issues.

As a U.S. senator, she co-sponsored at least three bills in 2019 that would have limited or outright blocked President Trump's border wall construction, as well as two bills that would have finalized the Flores Settlement Agreement, a court decision that made it extremely difficult to detain undocumented immigrants, and she has supported other bills that would weaken border security, a NumbersUSA review of her legislative record shows.

she The bill was submitted A bill is expected to be passed in 2018 that would not only ban the expansion of ICE detention facilities, but also reduce the number of ICE detention beds.

Harris appears to be moving to the right as she campaigns to occupy the Oval Office as President Joe Biden's successor. Started advertising This week, she claimed she supports “more Border Patrol agents,” suggesting she might not support them because President Trump opposed the controversial Senate border deal.

But while Trump was in the White House, Harris actively tried to block his efforts to increase funding for additional Border Patrol agents.

“As the Committee considers the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) FY 2019 budget, we urge you to reject President Trump's FY 2019 budget request, which aims to build a costly and ineffective border wall, increase Border Patrol forces, and dramatically increase U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resources and detention beds,” wrote an April 2018 letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee and signed by a handful of Senate Democrats, including Harris.

Salvadoran migrants in a caravan heading to the US from Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala, cross the Suciate River into Mexico on November 2, 2018. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP) (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images)

“We urge the Committee to further reject President Trump's budget proposal to hire new Border Patrol personnel at this time,” the letter continued, arguing that the Border Patrol would be better served by improvements in areas other than additional personnel.

The letter expressed “deep concerns” about the Trump administration's enforcement plans and called on the committee to block funding for Border Patrol agents as well as for the wall and detention beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a request that contrasted with the Senate's request. Proposed Border Agreementcalled for millions of dollars in additional border security funding, more staffing for Customs and Border Protection, and more beds for ICE.

Senator Harris' comments during her time in the Senate demonstrated her strong opposition to agencies that deal with immigration security and enforcement of immigration laws.

During the Senate confirmation hearing for then-ICE nominee Ron Vitiello in November 2018, Harris attempted to compare ICE to the Ku Klux Klan. That same year, she told NBC's Katie Hunt that she thought there needed to be a “critical reexamination of ICE and its role” and consideration of rebooting the agency “from the ground up.”

As a senator while vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, Harris in February 2019 mocked Trump's assertion that a border wall was necessary to keep terrorists out, calling the idea a “vanity project” for the Republican president. In June 2019, Harris was one of several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to raise her hand in support of decriminalizing illegal border crossings, and she also voiced support for government-funded health care for undocumented immigrants.

It's not yet clear whether the campaign's efforts to soften Trump's image on border security will be successful. For now, recent polls suggest that Americans view him as being well to the left on the issue.

69% of voters believe the vice president supports “open borders.”according to A Harvard-Harris poll released on Tuesday found that 82% of Republicans, 69% of independents and 56% of Democrats said that Trump, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, supports an open border policy, with an overwhelming majority of voters across political lines agreeing.

The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

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