Lawrence Richard
Yahoo NewsFri, 25 Jun 2021 02:33 UTC
© unknownUS VP Kamala Harris
Protesters gathered outside of a Border Patrol station in Texas on Friday morning, awaiting the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris. The group was holding signs reading "Trump Won" and "Kamala do you hear their screams?" along with others that were critical of Harris, who is visiting the border for the first time as vice president.
"You came a little too late," one of the protesters can be heard shouting in a video of the demonstration. "We have had this crisis for years. We need solutions. We don't need you parading in the Border Patrol station or acting like you care," the demonstrator continues. "Americans matter. America matters. God bless you, America."
The vice president is visiting the El Paso Central Processing Center, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Democratic lawmakers.Her first visit to the southern border since being chosen by President Joe Biden to resolve the immigration crisis visit comes after she traveled to Guatemala and Mexico to meet with leaders to discuss the surge of migrants attempting to cross into the United States. The trip also comes amid backlash from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
In March, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham
urged the Biden administration to see the crisis for themselves.
"Here's my message: President Biden and Vice President Harris, with all due respect, get off your a-- and go to the border, and look and see what you have caused by policies that will not work," he said in an interview. "Quit denying the obvious."
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas
similarly urged his party's leaders to play a more active role in resolving the crisis:
"I write to invite you to the U.S. Southern Border to observe the ongoing humanitarian crisis and share the perspective of Americans who live there."
Former President Donald Trump also
piled on the criticism, saying this week:
"Our Nation is now one giant sanctuary city where even dangerous criminals are being cut loose and set free inside the U.S interior on a daily basis."
"After months of ignoring the crisis at the Southern Border, it is great that we got Kamala Harris to finally go and see the tremendous destruction and death that they've created — a direct result of Biden ending my very tough but fair Border policies," he added. "Harris and Biden were given the strongest Border in American history. And now, it is by far the worst in American history."
Comment: Harris at the border was all about her and controlling the optics:
Harris gave the surprisingly upbeat take during her first trip to the border in her 94 days as President Biden's illegal immigration czar.
"In five months we've made progress, but there's still much more work to be done, but we've made progress on family reunification... And we've also made progress in addressing the root causes."
Later, as she departed El Paso for a weekend trip to her home state California, Harris upgraded her assessment, telling reporters:
"We have seen extreme progress over these last few months."
But statistics indicate otherwise as critics attribute the surge to Biden's policies. The number of US-Mexico border detentions hit a 21-year monthly high of more than 180,000 in May. Nearly 179,000 people were detained in April.
Harris was on the ground in Texas for less than 5 hours and got off on a testy start when she sniped at a reporter, "It's not my first trip. I've been to the border many times."
© Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesHow she spent her time:
Harris hosted a roundtable talk with nonprofit leaders on her border visit to El Paso, Texas
Before touting the "progress," Harris met privately with detained migrant children who were reportedly glad to see her — a discordant picture amid recent reports of a crying 5-year-old boy abandoned by smugglers near El Paso and smugglers infamously dropping 3- and 5-year-old girls over tall fencing nearby.
Other parts of the border are far worse, leaders of the Border Patrol's labor union said, slamming Harris for picking El Paso.
Although reporters weren't allowed to witness the VP's meeting with children, Harris' office released flattering quotes from her meeting with the five girls aged 9-16, who arrived to the border from Central America without their parents.
© Unknown
"I met with the children, with the young girls. And you know, it was interesting, they have obviously fled great harm. They're there without their parents. They are also full of hope. They were asking me questions: 'How do you become the first woman vice president?'"
Biden has called for legislation to legalize almost all of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the US and campaigned on welcoming asylum seekers from Central America.
Critics accuse Biden of creating new "pull" factors that are luring the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to the country — a stance notably taken by Guatemala's president and Mexico's president.
Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott was dismissed from his job Wednesday ahead of Harris' visit — which was hastily announced ahead of former President Donald Trump's trip to the border next week. Trump is expected to slam Biden and Harris.
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in a Fox News interview:
"You don't go to El Paso to see what is actually going on at the border. Harris should have visited McAllen, Texas, to see where the most migrant apprehensions are happening or Tucson, Ariz., to see where the most migrants are successfully evading authorities."
The vice president of the Border Patrol's union, Art Del Cueto, called Harris' choice of El Paso a "slap in the face. If she really wanted to see what was going on, she would go to the hot zones."
See also:
We are on front lines of the Biden-Harris border disaster, say three South Texas residents
Comment: Harris at the border was all about her and controlling the optics: See also: We are on front lines of the Biden-Harris border disaster, say three South Texas residents