(Bloomberg) -- Kamala Harris’ ascent as the likely Democratic nominee for US president spurred a revival of the Republican attack on her performance as the Biden administration’s “border czar.” House Speaker Mike Johnson called her “inept” in that role. House Republicans voted to condemn her “failure to secure” the border and got six Democrats to join the symbolic resolution.
But Harris never had such a title and was never assigned such a job. President Joe Biden tasked her specifically with addressing root causes of migration to the US from three countries in Central America. She has not been a major player in direct efforts to manage illegal crossings at the US-Mexico frontier.
Why attack Harris on immigration?
Border security has been a powerful issue for Republicans for years and it’s grown more potent during the Biden administration. Monthly apprehensions of migrants entering the country without authorization have dipped this year, but the numbers hit records earlier in Biden’s presidency. The uptick in new arrivals has strained the resources of left-leaning cities such as New York and Chicago, spreading border management frustrations to many liberal voters. Immigration is regularly cited as a top concern of voters in the lead-up to the November presidential vote.
Where did the term ‘border czar’ come from?
When Trump was president, he used the term border czar when he created a White House position to coordinate border policy and appointed Tom Homan, who had previously served as acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to the role.
But Biden doesn’t have a border czar, relying instead on a network of White House advisers, coordinators, and agency officials to manage border issues. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in early 2024 for his management of the border. The Democrat-controlled Senate tossed the charges.
What was Harris’ immigration assignment?
Biden assigned Harris in March 2021 to work toward addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — three countries making up the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, which had been feeding a spike in arrivals of unauthorized migrants to the US. The strategy the White House laid out included improving economic security, combating corruption, promoting human rights, and countering violence and other crimes in those countries.
What has Harris’ record been in the assignment?
According to the White House, the strategy has helped create and sustain an estimated 250,000 jobs; supported the education of as many as 3 million young people; invested more than $325 million in projects supporting such things as health care, climate finance and affordable housing; helped 63,000 farmers use technology meant to increase production; trained 2,800 labor rights actors; and assisted in winning more than 220 convictions of human traffickers.
Harris launched the Partnership for Central America, securing more than $5.2 billion in investment commitments from companies in the financial services, textiles and technology sectors, among others, according to the White House.
In recent years, the number of unauthorized migrants the Border Patrol has encountered from the three targeted countries has fallen, from 684,400 in fiscal 2021 to 448,400 in fiscal 2023. That was a reduction of 34% over a period when overall encounters rose by 24%. However, complex economic and political dynamics make it nearly impossible to attribute the decline to any one cause.
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