Harris Downplays Politics, Stresses Immigration Reform During Border Visit

The vice president toured a pair of border facilities and spoke to migrants and stakeholders during a visit that came after intense criticism from Republicans.
Claire Hansen Writes:
June 25, 2021, at 5:41 p.m.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday stressed the importance of addressing the root causes of migration and urged fellow politicians to approach the issue with “a sense of humanity” during a staid visit to the U.S.-Mexico border that has been all but subsumed by politics.

Harris urged Congress to work together to pass major immigration reform, as did Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Veronica Escobar, Texas Democrat who represents the district encompassing the El Paso area Harris visited – all of whom joined the vice president on the trip.

Harris’ trip comes just days before former President Donald Trump is set to visit the border with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and a contingent of Republican lawmakers. Republicans have sharply criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the border, which they argue is a “crisis” situation.

The GOP has unleashed a torrent of criticism in recent weeks over the fact that Harris, who has been tasked by President Joe Biden with addressing immigration push factors, had not yet visited the border region. Harris earlier this month traveled to Guatemala and Mexico, and she and her team pushed back that the root causes of migration begin far before migrants reach the U.S. border. Despite the back and forth, Harris on Friday said the trip reminded her that immigration “cannot be reduced to a political issue.”

“We’re talking about children, we’re talking about families, we’re talking about suffering. And our approach has to be thoughtful and effective. We can take all of these perspectives into account and have meaningful, good public policy,” she said during a press conference.

“If we just stop the rhetoric and the finger-pointing and do what we need to do, including – as Chairman Durbin has been doing for years – agreeing that we need immigration reform in our country and that Congress must act. Let’s do the work of agreeing you can’t just react to a problem without solving it at its roots,” Harris said.
When Harris announced earlier this week that she would travel to the border, Republicans then complained that she was visiting the wrong part of the border. She should, they said, visit the Rio Grande Valley instead of El Paso because that region has seen higher levels of illegal crossings.
Both Mayorkas and Harris appeared to directly address that criticism during the press conference.

“I recommended to the vice president that we visit El Paso because it is one of the busiest sectors of the border. El Paso reflects many diverse elements of our mission,” Mayorkas said.

He also noted that facilities in the area were representative of the progress the government has made in recent months in transferring unaccompanied migrant children out of border facilities and into shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The number of unaccompanied children in government custody dramatically increased earlier this year, sending the administration scrambling and causing massive overcrowding.

Administration officials and experts agree that border patrol stations are inappropriate places for children to stay, and the law mandates that children are transferred out of the facilities in 72 hours. The number of minors in border facilities has plummeted in recent months after the administration set up a number of additional intake facilities and shelters.

“The president and the vice president directed me, in the execution of my responsibilities as the secretary of homeland security, to take care of it. Today, the situation is dramatically different. The Border Patrol station is not overcrowded with children,” he said.

While in El Paso, the vice president toured a Border Patrol station as well as the Paso del Norte port of entry facility. She also spoke with several unaccompanied migrant girls and participated in a roundtable discussion with faith-based NGOs and service providers.

The vice president did not, however, visit the nearby Fort Bliss emergency influx facility where 1,500 migrant children are currently staying. Children there are experiencing serious mental health concerns, according to reports. The White House has previously said that it has significantly reduced the number of children at the facility and that there are currently 50 mental health professions on site. The White House said Friday that it has directed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate the situation.
Courtesy: US News