Lol: Biden Admin Asserts VP Harris Is Doing Her Job as Border Czar

Senior Biden officials spoke at a press conference Monday about the causes of illegal migration from northern parts. Central America to the United States, what the administration, with Vice-President Kamala Harris Leading the effort to reduce this migration. 

Addressing the crisis at the southern border was a priority. Particular attention was given to stemming illegal immigration from the area. “Northern Triangle”—or Northern Central America—nations: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. 

Harris has come under heavy criticism for what has been widely perceived as her lack of engagement on the nation’s southern border, since President Biden appointed her as the border czar early in his administration.  

Biden is stating that he plans to run for reelection. The progress he makes at the border could prove crucial to his chances. 

Vice president “working to address the root causes of migration, the factors that drive people to migrate in the first place—including sometimes an absence of hope for economic opportunity.” An official statement. “[The] administration is simultaneously working to ensure safe, orderly, and humane processing system at the border.”

Border Patrol agent instructs illegal immigrant who crossed Rio Grande into El Paso Texas. This was seen from Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) on Dec. 19, 2022. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Officials claimed that the number of encounters between border officials and those from Northern Central America trying cross the border in January 2023 was 71% lower than August 2021, when the highest number of encounters occurred during the Biden administration. 

But, overall, the crisis at the southern border continues

Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Documents reveal a rapid increase of encounters between border agents with people seeking to cross into the United States from the south. The numbers were 458,000 in 2020 and 1.7million in 2021. 

A September 20, 2022 Newsweek story “Border Crossings 3 Times Higher Under Biden Than Trump,” According to reports, “Data from the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) compiled by Newsweek show that the average number of encounters under Biden reached totals of roughly 189,000 per month, compared to an average of just under 51,000 per month during the Trump presidency.”

Keep your eyes on Central America and the Northern Triangle

Harris visited Guatemala in June 2021. He sent a message for anyone who was considering illegally entering the United States.

“Do not come. Do not come,” She said. “The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.”

A keystone of the vice president’s plan is the Call To Action program in which companies have been recruited to invest in Central America with the goal of creating economic and job opportunities at home for citizens of the region.  

Officials explained that 12 companies joined Call To Action when it launched in May 2021. Today senior officials noted that the number of participating companies is at 50, and that $3.2 billion has already been invested in the program, with that number rising soon to $4.2 billion following Harris’s planned announcement of a $950 million commitment. 

“We are redoubling humanitarian and development assistance in this region.,’ an official said. “We are cracking down on the multibillion human smuggling industry that exploits migrants  and we are expanding legal pathways for migration from Central America.”

“We doubled the number of temporary worker visas that we issued to nationals of the three northern Central American countries. We also increased refugee resettlement from Central America six-fold.”