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Vice President Kamala Harris, during a visit to Houston on Monday, outlined to Latino Texans the White House’s case for them as President Joe Biden prepares to face voters again next year.
“We live in a time where there is an all-out attack on hard-won freedoms and rights,” Harris said, addressing the challenges ahead. “Over the next 11 months, we have much work to do to deliver on the promise of who we are as America.”
Harris spoke as part of a moderated conversation with U.S. officials. Sylvie Garcia, D-Houston, and Nanette Barragán, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Harris was present a fundraiser for the Biden campaign afterwards.
Harris specifically touted the administration’s efforts to help minority-owned businesses, saying she and Biden “understand the history of disparity.” She noted that the White House has committed to increasing federal contracts for these businesses by 50 percent and has invested $12 billion with community lenders to expand access to capital for entrepreneurs.
But Harris also spoke more broadly about what she called an “intentional and total attack” on people’s rights, including the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. She harshly criticized states like Texas which, after the ruling, instituted an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape victims.
“The idea that after a person has survived a crime of violence against their body, a violation of their body, they are told: ‘And you don’t have the right to make a decision about what happens then to your body’ – that’s immoral,” Harris said. “It’s immoral.”
The conversation was introduced by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who spoke about her recent mental health struggles and the stigma attached to it, particularly in the Latino community. Hidalgo took a nine-week leave of absence earlier this year to go to an inpatient treatment center in Ohio.
“It’s just something we don’t talk about in our culture, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo said Harris reached out to her while she was receiving treatment and was “such a source of support to me.”
The event took place at the Hardy Senior Center in Garcia’s district, one of the most Hispanic congressional districts in the country.
Harris then went to a private residence for the fundraiser, which was also attended by her husband, Doug Emhoff, as well as Hidalgo and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. According to a pool report, Emhoff paid tribute to famous Texas Democrats and alluded to decades-long Republican control of the state.
“We will never give up on Texas,” Emhoff said.
Harris’ visit comes as the Biden campaign works to build support among Latinos ahead of a possible rematch against former President Donald Trump next year. In Texas, Republicans have made aggressive efforts to win over more Hispanic voters, particularly in South Texas.
As Harris traveled to Houston, a group of Hispanic Republican lawmakers and candidates were gathering in the city for a fundraiser hosted by the Hispanic Leadership Trust. The group is partly led by the US representative. Tony GonzalezR-San Antonio.
One of the attendees, former U.S. Rep. Mayra Fores, a Republican from Los Indios, criticized Harris’ visit for its lack of attention to the border. The subject did not come up in the conversation.
“Having Kamala Harris come to Houston while continuing to ignore the crisis at our southern border is a slap in the face to every Texan, every American, and every Hispanic American in this country,” Flores said in a statement . “Hispanic Americans are turning to the Republican Party in droves because we have the solutions to solve problems at the border, at the gas pump, at the grocery store and everywhere in between. »
