■ Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.s.mexico border on Friday.
Trip by vice president first, follows criticism
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first visit on Friday to the U.s.-mexico border since taking office, following criticism from members of both parties for failing to go earlier despite her role leading the Biden administration’s response to a steep increase in migration.
Harris will visit the El Paso area, accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to a statement Wednesday from Harris senior adviser Symone Sanders.
Harris has faced months of criticism from Republicans, and even some frustration from those in her own party, for not visiting the area.
Harris will arrive in the area days before former President Donald Trump is to visit the border with a group of House Republicans and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
It’s unclear what Harris’ plans include during her visit to the area, but one migrant detention facility in El Paso, at the Fort Bliss military post, has drawn criticism from advocates who have described unsafe conditions and allegations of abuse involving some of the thousands of children housed there.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat whose district stretches from south of San Antonio down to the southern border, wrote a letter to Harris this month inviting her to “observe the ongoing humanitarian crisis and share the perspective of Americans who live there.”
Cuellar issued a tweet Wednesday thanking Harris for her plans to visit.