Vice President Harris Faces Criticism Over Handling of Illegal Immigration
Vice President Kamala Harris has come under fire for her handling of illegal immigration, a task assigned to her by President Biden in 2021. Former Border Patrol Union leader Brandon Judd expressed his disappointment, stating, “It’s very disappointing. We gave her the policies that she needed to implement. She refused to implement those,” in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Harris’s record on immigration and border security has faced increased scrutiny following President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race and endorse her as his successor. Critics argue that Harris has failed to address one of the defining issues of the upcoming election.
President Biden appointed Harris to lead the administration’s effort to combat migration in March 2021, responding to growing concerns about the increased flow of migrants. According to an Associated Press report at the time, Harris was tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Her mission was to press these countries to enforce immigration laws and secure their borders while developing a long-term strategy to address the root causes of migration.
During the announcement, Biden said, “The vice president has agreed – among the multiple other things that I have her leading, and I appreciate it – to lead our diplomatic effort to work with those nations to accept returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders.” Harris acknowledged the difficulty of the task, stating, “Needless to say, the work will not be easy. But it is important work.”
In late 2021, Harris negotiated a memorandum of understanding with Mexico, resulting in the U.S. sending $4 billion to help Central American countries address the root causes of illegal migration. Additionally, private companies committed an extra $5.2 billion to the effort. However, an NBC News report published Thursday revealed that Harris’s efforts quickly fizzled out. While she visited Mexico in June 2021 to sign the agreement, she has not visited the border or the Northern Triangle countries since January 2022.
Despite the initial momentum, the Root Causes strategy has made no new commitments since 2021. Nonetheless, there has been a significant drop in attempted crossings by migrants from the Northern Triangle. Government statistics show that migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador made up 41% of all Border Patrol apprehensions in 2021, but this number dropped to 22% in fiscal 2023.
However, overall illegal crossings reached record highs in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with migrants coming from all over the world to the U.S. border. Notably, there has been a surge in migrants from China, with over 30,000 Chinese migrants arrested illegally crossing the southern border in 2023.
The criticism of Harris’s handling of illegal immigration highlights the complexity and challenges of addressing this issue. As she steps into the spotlight as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential race, her record on immigration will likely be a focal point of debate and discussion.
“The major problem is the root causes she identified: political instability, climate, and crime,” Judd said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “That was the same under President Trump, yet we did not see an explosion in illegal immigration under the Trump administration.”
The Trump administration did experience a spike in attempted crossings in 2018, peaking in March 2019. However, their response led to a steady decrease in crossings for the rest of the year, a trend that continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, under the Biden-Harris administration, illegal crossings have reached unprecedented levels, which Judd attributes to the “magnet that [Harris] created, which is allowing people to be released into the United States.”
Harris has long advocated for more lenient enforcement for undocumented migrants. As California’s attorney general in 2015, she stated that “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” She reiterated this sentiment during her tenure as a U.S. senator and in the 2020 Democratic primary debates, where she emphasized the need for a fair asylum process and opposed deporting immigrants whose only offense was being undocumented.
In March 2021, President Biden tasked Harris with leading the administration’s efforts to combat migration, focusing on diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The goal was to address the root causes of migration and secure these countries’ borders. Later that year, Harris negotiated an agreement with Mexico that saw the U.S. commit $4 billion to address these root causes, with private companies contributing an additional $5.2 billion.
Despite these efforts, Harris’s initiatives quickly lost momentum. An NBC News report revealed that while Harris visited Mexico in June 2021, she has not visited the border or the Northern Triangle countries since January 2022. The Root Causes strategy has made no new commitments since 2021. However, the share of attempted crossings by migrants from the Northern Triangle has decreased significantly, dropping from 41% of all Border Patrol apprehensions in 2021 to 22% in fiscal 2023.
Nevertheless, overall illegal crossings reached all-time highs in 2021, 2022, and 2023, with migrants coming from all over the world, including a significant number from China. In 2023 alone, over 30,000 Chinese migrants were arrested illegally crossing the southern border.
Judd argues that the root causes identified by Harris were not the main drivers of illegal immigration. He believes that job opportunities are the primary motivation for migrants and that more successful root-cause initiatives could have reduced illegal migration. He criticizes Harris for failing to address both border security and the root causes she identified.
“Nothing has changed from President Trump to this administration,” Judd said. “Political instability was still there, the crime was still there, and the climate hasn’t changed from Trump to this administration, yet illegal immigration has exploded. She has not addressed any of the root causes, and she refuses to recognize what the actual root causes are.”
Judd also pointed out that if Harris had effectively dealt with the issues she identified, there would be less illegal immigration. He added that her failures have frustrated Border Patrol agents, who believe she had the power to secure the border but chose not to.
“They’re very frustrated that she’s now the nominee because every one of us, all Border Patrol agents, understand and recognize that she had the power to do what was necessary to secure the border,” Judd said. “She didn’t do it.”
Despite the criticism, a White House official defended Harris’s efforts, highlighting the investments secured in Northern Triangle countries, which have created jobs and improved internet and financial access for millions. The official emphasized that under Harris’s leadership, the administration remains committed to its Root Causes Strategy and continues to work on combating corruption, reducing violence, and empowering women in the region.
The debate over Harris’s handling of illegal immigration is likely to intensify as she steps into the spotlight as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential race. Her record on immigration will undoubtedly be a focal point in the ongoing political discourse.