Last month, President Biden appointed Vice President Harris (Kamala Harris) to deal with immigration issues at the U.S. southern border due to a so-called “humanitarian crisis” caused by a surge in the number of migrants entering the United States. But since taking office 13 days ago, Harris has not only failed to visit the southern border, not even a press conference.
The U.S. media outlet Fox reported that Harris’ full-time work on immigration, including overseeing diplomatic efforts with the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), has been integrated into the Biden administration’s broader foreign policy. Harris has been active in the diplomatic arena, for example, she has spoken with major world leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
Since the Biden administration took office, and especially a week after Harris was appointed to deal with the migrant crisis at the southern border, the media have posed many questions to Harris, but she has yet to hold a formal press conference. Meanwhile, the border crisis has received national attention and has sparked a series of concerns about national security and the entire U.S. immigration system.
When Biden initially announced the appointment, he said Harris would be responsible for getting immigrants to return to their home countries.
Biden said, “The influx of immigrants that we’re dealing with now started with the last administration, but it’s our responsibility to respond to this humanely and to stop what’s happening.”
“So there are consequences to this increase (in immigration), but the vice president has agreed (including multiple other tasks I’ve asked her to lead), and I’m grateful for that, agreed to lead our diplomatic efforts and work with those countries to (get them) to accept reentry and to strengthen immigration enforcement at their borders.”
The White House later tried to claim that Harris was not involved in a “border crisis” but was focused on addressing “root causes, not border issues.”
Despite the Communist Party virus (COVID-19) restrictions, photos of large numbers of migrants crowded in close proximity to shelters went viral, raising questions about two of the Biden-Harris campaign’s previous major attacks on President Trump. During the campaign, Biden slammed Trump for not taking the Chinese Communist virus (COVID-19) seriously and for his supposedly cruel approach to putting immigrant children in cages.
The border crisis itself involves a litany of issues and agencies of the federal government, particularly those under the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. According to Harris’ office, she will work closely with members of the Cabinet, including the secretary of state and international development officials, as well as special envoys from the Northern Triangle countries.
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