Sen. Kamala Harris visits troops, refugee camp in Middle East

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Sen. Kamala Harris is back from her first foreign trip since taking office, a visit to the Middle East to meet with American troops and observe a Syrian refugee camp.

The California Democrat met with troops from California stationed in Iraq.

She then visited a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. While there, she heard one refugee describe the horrors and violence his family went through, including the death of his daughter.

"When I think about that in the context of a policy we have in our country that says we're going to shut our border to these refugees mostly because of their religion, I am offended and disturbed as I was before if not more so," she said.

The experience, she said, reinforced her belief in the need for more coherent and consistent policies on Syria and refugees.

"First of all, our Syria policy has to be something that is informed by more than whatever the president watched on TV that night," she said. "Our Syria policy has to also be articulated in a way that is a little more concise and precisedthan a tweet at 3:00 in the morning."

Harris sits on committees that deal with foreign affairs and security, including the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

She is planning to hold her first town hall Friday, at Holman United Methodist Church at 2:30 p.m. She is also taking questions via her Twitter account @SenKamalaHarris using #AskKamala.