On 25 June, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a border-patrol facility and port of entry in El Paso, Texas, amid pressure from GOP lawmakers and progressive politicians from her own party.
The number of illegal border crossings has soared dramatically in recent months. Over 180,000 individuals tried to enter the US via its southern frontier in May alone, according to Customs and Border Protection. This represents a “staggering 674 percent increase” compared to May 2020 when 23,237 illegal aliens were apprehended, US conservative media outlet The Daily Wire noted on 10 June. The GOP and conservative observers pin the blame for the unfolding border crisis on the Biden administration that reversed Donald Trump’s policies, which appeared to curb the tide of illegal entries.
Interesting Timing & Choice of the City
Apparently, Harris decided to stop off in El Paso’s because the city’s residents are more supportive of the vice president than those elsewhere along the border, the academic suggests. In addition to that, going to an area with relatively low levels of illegal border crossings or crossings by those requesting asylum, the vice president reduced the risk of any unflattering photo-ops, according to him.
While in El Paso, Harris nevertheless failed to visit the government detention centre for unaccompanied migrant children at Fort Bliss (a US Army Base) in El Paso, apparently trying to evade yet another photo-op nightmare, the political scientist remarks.
The VP’s apparent manoeuvre has not gone unnoticed by the Republicans and some of her party fellows, who called the visit “a politically safe trip.”
Nick Miroff of The Washington Post has also drawn attention to Harris’ move, suggesting on Twitter that “in El Paso, she can be hosted by Rep. Veronica Escobar, who has been reliably supportive.” In addition to that, “El Paso has been less impacted than RGV, AZ,” the reporter added.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump ridiculed Harris, suggesting that had he not suggested a trip to the US southern border together with Texan Governor Greg Abbott, she would have never gone there. The ex-president is expected to visit the South Texas border town of Edinburg on 30 June.
For his part, Abbott wrote on Twitter: “Kamala Harris to finally visit the border months after being tapped to handle the migrant crisis. After 91 days of being Border Czar, VP Harris is not even going where the crisis is taking place! Interesting timing…”
The VP tried to defend both the timing of her visit and the choice of El Paso, insisting that she announced her plans in March and that she picked the city specifically because “it is here in El Paso that the previous administration’s child separation policy was unveiled.”
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the traveling press corps, Tuesday, June 8, 2021, at the Sofitel Mexico City Reforma in Mexico City
Grilled by the Left and Right
Immigration has turned out to be a tricky issue for the Biden-Harris administration, according to the professor. On the one hand, the government has been subjected to criticism by the GOP for rolling back all of Trump’s border policies and announcing new migrant reform, which has apparently increased in the number of asylum seekers from Central America’s Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala).
On the other hand, the White House “continued enforcement of immigration law, featuring the detention and deportation of many undocumented immigrants has enraged the Democratic Party’s left wing, which has long advocated for much more open borders,” according to the professor.
Therefore, during a June trip to Guatemala, the American VP stated that undocumented migrants from the Latin American state should not come to the US.
Later in the day, progressive New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez subjected the vice president to criticism on Twitter calling her comments “disappointing to see.” AOC highlighted that “the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilisation in Latin America.”
“We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing,” AOC said.
According to the academic, Harris did make it very clear during her first border trip “that she understands the principal causes of the flow of undocumented migrants from Central America’s Northern Triangle.”
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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