Barely months into Joe Biden’s appointment as U.S. president, the country faced a border crisis that compelled the president to call on his vice to tackle the issue. This issue was migration. Kamala Harris on Immigration was a hot topic as it seemed like an impossible mission, and so, Vice President Kamala Harris and her team were quick to clarify one thing: She wasn’t tasked with managing the southern border.
Three years later, this task haunts her unprecedented campaign for the White House, with it being the central line of attack from republicans.
“As a result of her dangerously extreme immigration policies, the largest invasion in history is now taking place at our southern border, and it’s getting worse, not better,” former President Donald Trump said in a rare call with reporters Tuesday, falsely claiming Harris had been appointed Biden’s “border czar.”
Immigration, the most Problematic Issue for Harris
Immigration issues concerning the US-Mexican border have been politically disadvantageous for Biden and the trend it appears will now follow Harris as Trump makes it his campaign’s cornerstone.
In recent years, an unexampled number of immigrant crossings have resulted in an administration whose immigration record is defined by that, and this prompted a dramatic move from the White House earlier this year to suppress asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Tuesday, during her first rally of the 2024 presidential campaign, Harris never touched on security issues surrounding borders. Harris and Biden have both recently used the failed bipartisan immigration deal that was abandoned by Trump to argue that Republicans are not serious about border security even though the issue has not been prominent in campaign rallies for the last year.
The House GOP campaign arm is also telling members to attack Harris’ failed border policies, according to a memo obtained by CNN.
In a statement, Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Harris’ presidential campaign, called Trump’s immigration policies “xenophobic” and blamed him for border dysfunction.
“The only ‘plan’ Donald Trump has to secure our border is ripping mothers from their children and a few xenophobic placards at the Republican National Convention,” Munoz said. “He tanked the toughest bipartisan border security deal in a generation because for Donald Trump, this has never been about actually securing the border – it’s always about himself. He can make up whatever lies he wants but the fact is there’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris.”
Harris’ root cause work began March 2021. When an influx of unaccompanied migrant children occurred, Biden assigned his vice president with diplomatic efforts in Central America; this he saw as respect because he had done the same job under President Barack Obama.
The Department of Homeland Security remained responsible for overseeing border security as Harris focused on long-term problem solving.
At the time, most minors arrested at the U.S. southern border were from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras — a region hard hit by hurricanes and the Covid-19 epidemic, a major cause of migration in recent decades.
As the vice presidential team began to strategize, the problem facing the government increased. Seven months later, it was migrants from even further away in South America — outside of Harris’s elected office — that were overwhelming the Biden administration.
Border crossings went up, Republicans pointed fingers at the vice president, and dubbed Harris “border czar,” a title the White House rejected, saying Harris’ focus was on the region and not border security.
California Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar described efforts by House Republicans to portray Harris as a border czar on Tuesday “laughable and unserious.”
“Let’s be very clear, there was no ‘border czar.’ Kamala Harris’ role was to engage in multilateral discussion with our Latin American countries,” the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus told reporters.
Harris has spoken only occasionally about her efforts, as the U.S.–Mexico border situation became a political issue for Biden.
And it’s the words he’s already said that Republicans are likely to use in the coming months.
Summary
- Vice President Kamala Harris is under attack from Republicans as she becomes the likely Democratic presidential nominee for 2024.
- GOP critics label her as extremely liberal, citing her past support for progressive policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
- Her immigration work and handling of border issues are being scrutinized.
- Republicans are using her record to target down ballot Democrats, portraying her policies as out of touch with mainstream America.
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