Biden taps Harris to handle surge of migrants
President Joe Biden on Wednesday picked Vice President Kamala Harris to oversee efforts to slow the rush of migrants to the southern border, handing her a highprofile and politically fraught assignment amid fresh concerns from lawmakers and activists about the growing crisis.
The move came on the same day a delegation of senior White House officials and members of Congress visited a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where migrant
The Biden administration is seeking urgently to shelter and care for thousands of children arriving at the border without their parents. children are being held. The Biden administration is seeking urgently to process, shelter and care for thousands of young children and teenagers arriving at the border without their parents.
Biden called Harris “the most qualified person” to lead the U.S. dialogue with Mexico and Central American countries “that are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks.”
“It’s not her full-responsibility job, but she is leading the effort because I think the best thing to do is to put someone who, when he or she speaks, they don’t have to wonder about, is that where the president is,” Biden said. “When she speaks, she speaks for me.”
The decision puts Harris in charge of one of the toughest problems facing the Biden administration, involving an issue that has vexed the last few presidencies. Harris until now lacked a specific portfolio, though Biden had said he wanted to put her in charge of pressing issues as
they arose, a role that he played for former President Barack Obama.
Harris is widely seen as a potential successor to Biden, and her new assignment gives her an opportunity to build her foreignpolicy credentials, strengthen her ties to the Latino community and resolve a high-profile problem. But the potential for failure is also clear, and a stumble could hurt her presidential ambitions.
Appearing with Biden on Wednesday, Harris echoed Biden’s increasingly tough warnings to would-be migrants and pledged to tackle the underlying economic and social conditions that are driving people to flee their home countries.
“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,” Harris said.
The balance will not be easy. Human-rights activists have raised concerns about migrants’ treatment at the border and the housing provided for children. If those worries do not subside, Harris could face backlash from a Democratic base that is already frustrated with Biden on immigration issues.
More broadly, there is no guarantee Harris’ talks with the leaders of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will yield results.
For Biden, who oversaw similar immigration issues for Obama, the decision effectively creates a point person for dealing with the flow of migrants, potentially taking some of the heat off him as he addresses other priorities, such as the coronavirus pandemic and the economy. But it suggests the White House sees the border surge as a bigger problem than it sometimes conveys.
As one senior administration official put it, “Starting today, the Northern Triangle nations and Mexico will know there is one senior official dedicated to this effort.”
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the move before Biden announced it.
Harris will have two overarching goals in her new role, according to senior administration officials: She will be working to stem the flow of migrants and she will seek to establish a strategic partnership with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The latter three are often called the Northern Triangle countries.
But on Wednesday, much of the attention was on the Biden administration’s struggles to house and quickly process unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the border, as well as complaints that the administration is not being transparent about the border situation.
Responding to bipartisan calls from lawmakers to give the media more access to border facilities, the Department of Health and Human Services allowed one network camera to accompany the White House-led delegation on a visit to a facility in Carrizo Springs, where migrant children are being held.
There are more than 11,000 children in HHS custody. Nearly 5,000 more are in CBP jails, which is nearly twice the previous record, according to the latest figures released by the government. Under pressure to be more transparent, officials provided fresh data Wednesday.