Kamala Harris told immigrants “don’t come” to the US, but at least 8 million came anyway.
In perhaps her most famous speech as vice president, delivered in June 2021 after being given responsibility for securing the U.S. border, Harris tried to urge Democrats to halt the flood of migrants into the United States following President Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
“I want to say very clearly to anyone in this region considering making the dangerous journey to the U.S.-Mexico border: don’t come. Don’t come,” she said.
“The United States will continue to enforce our laws and protect our borders.”
That announcement was followed by record numbers of illegal crossings at the southern border, 6.3 million immigrants And at least 1.5 million people Bypassing law enforcementAccording to federal government data.
Biden’s withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Harris on Sunday all but ensured that she would become the Democratic presidential nominee. By Monday night, Harris had secured the support of nearly every major Democrat, including nearly every other candidate, and had been pledged the support of more than half of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
Her position sheds new light on how she handled her first big portfolio after becoming vice president.
Republicans have long criticized her job performance, calling her Biden’s “border czar” and noting that border crossings have continued to surge under her watch.
Mark Morgan, a former acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), told The Washington Post that “the data is irrefutable” and shows “Vice President Harris has overseen the worst, unmitigated border security crisis of our lifetime.”
“Her performance has had a detrimental effect on every aspect of our safety and national security and has been nothing short of a complete failure,” Morgan said.
Charles Marino, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official, said Harris has not been effective in cracking down on the increase in migration into the United States and has instead been an “enabler and facilitator” of record numbers of people crossing the border.
Although 2022 has been a record year for illegal crossings at the southern border, Harris insisted that “the border is secure.”
But rank-and-file Border Patrol agents who have dealt with the massive influx of migrants crossing the border told The Washington Post that the border was not safe under Harris’s watch.
“She has literally done nothing. She came to the border once and we kicked all the foreigners out of there to make ourselves look better,” the second agent said.
“She’s a border patrol officer and in four years she’s only been near the border once,” one agent said.
Harris He took over the transition role in March 2021. It will focus on the various issues that are causing migrants to flee Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Her only public visit to the border was in June 2021, when she met with border officials in El Paso, Texas.
White House It has said it plans to invest $4 billion in Central America. Under Harris’ leadership, the government will work to create jobs, crack down on corruption, and address crime and human trafficking in the region.
The number of people crossing the border has fallen in recent weeks to its lowest levels under the Biden administration, but experts blame the decline on Texas authorities cutting off access to a key border crossing, hot summer temperatures and Biden’s executive order limiting asylum requests for people crossing the border illegally.
