Democrats took head on the thorny issue of immigration on Wednesday night at the DNC, in an attempt to blunt Republican momentum on the topic that voters routinely say is among their top concerns in November.

Among the speakers in Chicago were New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose relatively hawkish views on the border helped him win a Congressional special election in a conservative Long Island district earlier this year. The sheriff of a Texas border county who has criticized former President Donald Trump‘s stance on the border was also on hand at the United Center.

Immigration and border security have been a big focus of the election campaign for both parties, with Republicans placing blame on Vice President Kamala Harris for high illegal crossing numbers that have taken place during the Biden administration.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump spoke at a rally in North Carolina, claiming that Democrats were afraid to speak on the issue.

“When it comes to the border, hear me when I say: You know nothing, Donald Trump,” Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar told attendees on Wednesday.

The El Paso Democrat explained that her district was a border community, in which she and countless others spent their lives crossing back and forth into Mexico to shop, see doctors and have meals out with loved ones.

Escobar said the GOP was using immigration as a political cudgel, but was not offering ways to fix issues with the U.S. system.

What is the Democrat plan to fix immigration?

The Democratic National Committee released its platform for the 2024 election shortly before its convention began, which included notably more centrist language surrounding the immigration and border security — a sign that the party sees it as a weakness in November.

Those speaking on the issue have mostly focused on legislation already written: the original bipartisan border security bill, which was voted down by Republican senators earlier this year at the behest of Trump.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who worked on the bill alongside Republicans, placed the blame on its failure with Trump when he took to the DNC stage.

“Trump killed that bill because he knew that if we fixed the border, he’d lose his ability to divide us,” Murphy said. “His ability to fan the flames of fear of those who come from different places.”

Republicans, including Trump and his running mate JD Vance, have called Kamala Harris weak on border security and foreign policy. Murphy turned the criticism back to on the GOP.

“For 20 years, Kamala Harris has been tough as nails when it comes to securing our border,” Murphy said, highlighting her record as a California prosecutor.

The DNC’s platform has promised to create an immigration system which secures the border by increasing funding for staffing and technology used by border patrol, while also increasing legal pathways to immigration.

The platform promises an additional 250,000 legal immigrant visas over the coming five years, including for fiancés, spouses and children of U.S. citizens so that they are able to legally work sooner after arriving into the country.

The platform says much of the necessary changes could be achieved through the border bill, which Harris has promised to resurrect should she win the White House.

Immigration as ‘the American experience’

Suozzi, who replaced George Santos in a special election in February, is a big supporter of that bill. He has continued efforts in recent weeks to bring about changes to the immigration system, alongside Texas Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a Republican.

The Italian-American spoke of his father being an immigrant from Europe, who served as a navigator during World War II before serving as a New York state judge.

“My family’s experience, Kamala Harris’ experience, the American experience,” he told the crowd at the United Center, adding that the polarization on immigration was “painful.”

“Let’s be clear: the border is broken,” Suozzi continued, using language that would have been unlikely to hear at the DNC of four years ago. “But this year, when Democrats and Republicans finally worked together to finally write new border laws, we were blocked.

“We all know who sabotaged us,” he said, hinting at Trump’s behind-the-scenes role in halting the bill.

Adding to the party’s messaging on immigration, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, who told Texas Democrats earlier on Wednesday that he was tired of how Republicans paint migrants.

“They are not quite the criminals and rapists that they are made out to be,” Salazar said, referencing language Trump often uses during his rallies. “They are just people like you and me that want to provide for their families.”

On the main stage at the DNC later, Salazar said Trump’s visits to the border were to serve his own political interests.

“The border sheriffs that I know, we’re like Kamala, we protect and serve,” Salazar told the convention. “We show compassion, and we fight like hell to protect our border.”

Salazar previously investigated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his involvement in sending newly arrived migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard.

Vance called border bill a ‘disaster’

Former Homeland Security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, Olivia Troye, also spoke on Wednesday. She said she resigned from the Trump administration over his undermining of national security and his divisive rhetoric on immigration.

The daughter of a Mexican immigrant, Troye said being inside the Trump White House was “terrifying”.

“What keeps me up at night is what will happen if he gets back there,” she said. “The guardrails are gone. The few adults in the room the first time resigned or were fired.”

Republicans have claimed that border crossings have been out of control under the Biden-Harris administration, focusing in on the VP’s role as so-called “border czar” since Biden endorsed her as the Democratic candidate.

For the past few months, however, tougher measures enacted by President Biden — under pressure from Republicans — have resulted in far fewer illegal crossings, with July seeing the lowest numbers since September 2020.

On Wednesday, Trump’s running mate JD Vance said he did not support the bipartisan border bill, calling it a “disaster” in an appearance on Fox News.

“JD Vance has been playing political games with our border security the whole time – and today he admitted that he opposes measures to fund more border patrol agents and equipment to detect fentanyl coming over the border, calling the deal to secure these life-saving measures a ‘disaster.’” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement.

“Instead, he’s dead set on pushing Trump’s cruel and divisive Project 2025 immigration agenda and putting politics ahead of getting things done for the American people.”

The GOP’s platform promises mass deportations of illegal immigrants, strict vetting and limits on sanctuary cities which have welcomed many new arrivals over the past two years.

While the DNC’s plan may not include measures as strict as those in the GOP’s playbook, it does include powers for the president to close the border should it be deemed necessary.

The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized any efforts to further limit asylum – which President Biden did in June – and called on a future Harris administration to take on states trying to manage border security on their own, when it is a federal responsibility.