Joe Biden appointed his vice president Kamala Harris to take charge in the efforts to stem migration flow at the southern border as the administration deals with the surge of migrants. Upon her appointment to lead the administration’s efforts, Republicans criticized the vice president for her previous stance on immigration.
Harris being appointed to lead the White House’s efforts in stemming migration led Republicans to bring up her past comments regarding the issue. Back in 2017, Harris tweeted that undocumented immigrants are not criminals, and in 2018, Harris, who was then a Senator of California, compared the officials at Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE to the Ku Klux Klan
Also in 2017, Harris pledged to speak against the “fear-mongering” of the Trump administration with regards to the immigrants at the border, noting the hardline stance that was taken, separating children from their parents.
Republicans pointed out that Harris is “weak” when it comes to the issue of immigration, and claimed that the Biden White House is not taking the issue seriously.
With Harris at the helm of stemming migration, her work is expected to be focused on two aspects: stemming the flow of “irregular” migrants through addressing the root cause that would lead them to leave their home countries and strengthening US relations with Mexico and Central America. Harris reiterated Thursday that the Biden administration is discouraging migrants from going to the border at this time.
“While we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law and that we also — because we can chew gum and walk at the same time — must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek, as the president has described, to come here,” said Harris.
Meanwhile, Harris is set to visit New Haven, Connecticut on Friday to promote the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Harris’ visit is part of the administration’s Help is Here tour, where she will prompt the benefits of the COVID-19 relief, that was signed into law a few weeks prior. Harris would be joined by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro in her visit.