Vice President Kamala Harris has been at the center of the US’s response to the migrant crisis at the southern border since President Biden appointed her to lead efforts to address its root causes in 2021. Her role, often referred to as ‘border czar’ by media outlets and Republicans, has been met with scrutiny and criticism, particularly regarding her handling of the surging numbers of migrants arriving at the border.
In March 2021, as migrant crossings skyrocketed following Biden’s rollback of Trump-era border policies, Harris was tasked with tackling the underlying issues, such as climate change, poverty, and violence, that the administration believed were driving migration northward. While she initially focused on diplomatic efforts with Mexico and Central American countries, her efforts faced immediate challenges.
In June 2021, she issued a stern warning to potential migrants: “Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders.” Despite this, migrant arrivals continued to increase, leading to mounting pressure on Harris to visit the border itself.
While she initially resisted, stating, “You haven’t been to the border… And I haven’t been to Europe,” she ultimately made a trip to El Paso, Texas, in June 2021. Reports emerged of dissatisfaction within her team, with Politico reporting a “chaotic moment” surrounding the border visit and a book by Franklin Foer alleging that Harris let the assignment slide, missing an opportunity for meaningful achievement.
Harris faced further criticism when she contributed to the debunked narrative of Border Patrol agents whipping migrants in the Del Rio Sector in September 2021. While a subsequent investigation revealed the claims of whipping were not true, Harris’s initial remarks fueled the controversy.
Through 2021 and 2022, Harris remained largely absent from the border crisis, focusing on her root causes strategy. However, the crisis continued to escalate, with migrant encounters surpassing those of 2021. In June 2022, at the Summit of the Americas, Harris announced securing $3.2 billion in private sector commitments to address the root causes of migration, reiterating her belief that most people leave their homes due to harm or the inability to meet basic needs. Despite these efforts, migrant encounters reached record highs in 2022 and continued to worsen in 2023.
Harris’s declaration in September 2022 that the border was secure, despite the ongoing crisis and mass releases of migrants into the interior, drew further criticism. In 2023, record-breaking numbers of migrant encounters and chaotic scenes at the border continued to dominate news headlines. Fiscal year 2023 saw over 2.4 million encounters, with December alone recording nearly 250,000.
Despite these challenges, Harris has remained vocal about her efforts to address the crisis, touting her success in rallying private sector investment and noting a decrease in encounters from Northern Triangle countries. She has also expressed support for a bipartisan Senate agreement to provide border funding and reduce migrant crossings and has backed President Biden’s executive orders on asylum limitations and pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrant spouses of US citizens.
As she positions herself as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Harris is facing renewed scrutiny over her role in managing the border crisis. While her team emphasizes the successes of her root causes strategy, the continued escalation of the crisis and criticism over her handling of the situation remain key challenges as she seeks to solidify her candidacy.
