First appearance on FOXA senior House committee is stepping up efforts to obtain documents from the Biden administration about Vice President Kamala Harris' role in what lawmakers are calling the “worst border crisis in American history.”
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent the letter to Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Troy Miller following a request last month for documents and communications between Harris' office and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“It is important that the Committee and the American people understand Vice President Harris' role as Border Secretary during the ongoing border crisis,” Comer said in the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital.
House top committee demands internal documents about Harris' role in border crisis: 'total failure'
Rep. James Comer speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on April 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The mass entry and release of illegal immigrants into the United States under the Biden-Harris Administration has contributed to the murders, sexual assaults and serious injuries of many Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants. These crimes should never have happened.”
The letter included details of incidents perpetrated by members of the MS-13 gang, New York City, It is believed to have been committed by two immigrants.
Comer said the committee set an Aug. 20 deadline and repeated the request on Aug. 20 and Sept. 6. It has now set an Oct. 1 deadline and warned of further action if the request is not met.
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“If CBP continues to withhold documents or communications on this matter, the committee will consider alternative means to obtain this information, including mandatory procedures,” he said.
The fight over the documents comes amid an ongoing dispute over who is to blame for the border crisis and which presidential candidate is best placed to solve it. Republicans blame the Biden-Harris administration for the crisis, arguing that the historic three-year crisis is a direct result of the administration's rollback of Trump-era policies and implementation of so-called “open borders” policies.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Phoenix Awards ceremony, Saturday, September 14, 2024, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
They focused on Harris because of the role she was given in 2021 to address the “root causes” of migration, a role that has led to her being dubbed the “border czar,” a title the White House has rejected.
The Biden administration says it is dealing with a historic crisis across the hemisphere and needs more funding and immigration reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system. The administration points to a sharp decline in migration numbers since Biden signed an executive order limiting immigration in June.
Since then, encounters have fallen by more than 50%, and August's encounters were 68% lower than August 2023, officials said.
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Meanwhile, Harris has criticized former President Trump for not supporting a bipartisan bill introduced earlier this year that conservatives say would normalize the influx of migrants, while supporters say it would increase border funding and limit immigration into the US.
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“Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades, and the Border Patrol approved it. But Donald Trump thought the border deal would hurt his campaign and ordered our allies in Congress to scrap it. I refuse to play politics over security. I pledge to you: As president, I will resurrect the bipartisan border security bill he killed and sign it into law,” she said at the Democratic National Convention last month.
A spokesman for the vice president said Tuesday that Republicans “continue to block bipartisan border security legislation supported by the Biden-Harris Administration and a bipartisan group of senators.”
“The Administration has committed a record Border Security budget and remains committed to ensuring the border is adequately resourced, including deploying cutting-edge fentanyl detection equipment. The Administration's executive actions have reduced illegal crossings to levels lower than when President Trump left office,” spokesman Ernesto Apleza told Fox News Digital. “While President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the charge on border security solutions, Republicans in Congress continue to use the issue as a political point-scoring tool.”
