Washington : Indian-American Kamala Harris, who scripted history by winning a Senate seat, has said she is suspicious of president-elect Donald Trumps plans to deport 2-3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal history, saying a "whole range of behaviour" can qualify as crime. "I have an experience with this kind of approach and what I have seen is when you say criminal, thats a very broad term. Its not a monolith. Theres a whole range of behaviors that can qualify as being called a crime," Harris told Miami Herald in an interview.Harris, 52, is of both India and African heritage and is in Washington DC for a week-long orientation programme for new Senators. She is the first Senator of Indian heritage.
The California Senator said she would be staying in Washington DC after the orientation programme to search for a house. Harris, who was endorsed by outgoing President Barack Obama in her Senate race, is a fierce opponent of Trump. "I am suspicious of that approach... And heres the other reality of it, every federal agency, every state or local agency, especially in law enforcement, will tell you they have limited resources and as far as Im concerned I prefer that those resources as it relates in particular to nonviolent, nonserious crime, go into helping me ?
"I can tell you we dont have enough resources for that. So the concern is also about misplaced priorities for the sake of a sound bite," she said in response to a question. Harris has already talked with her future Democratic colleagues about "banding together" to protect immigrants from what she described as Trumps draconian immigration proposals. However, Harris said she would co-operate with the president-elect on infrastructure issue.PTI
