KAMALA Harris snapped at a reporter telling them "it's not my first trip" as she arrived in El Paso, Texas ahead of her long-anticipated visit to the US-Mexico border.
The Vice President's visit to the beleaguered region comes nearly 100 days since she was appointed the Biden administration's point-person on tackling the "root causes" of migration.
"Well, it's not my first visit," Harris said, raising a finger and an eyebrow towards a reporter grilling her over the timing of her border visit. "I've been to the border many times."
Harris has been widely slammed for her handling of the migrant crisis, where she previously refused to visit the border and has even laughed when she was asked if she would take the trip.
Her trip nearly clashed with former President Donald Trump's upcoming visit, which he is set to embark on next week with Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and a cohort of House Republicans.
Read our Kamala Harris live blog for the latest news and updates…
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Katie Balevic
TEXAS SEN. TED CRUZ SNAPS AT VP KAMALA HARRIS
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz slammed the Vice President after her visit to Texas.
"It does not take 93 days to plan a trip to the border. Kamala has been hiding from the border crisis her and Joe Bidenâs political decisions have created," Cruz tweeted.
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Katie Balevic
TRUMP AIDE: TIMING OF HARRISâ TRIP âNO COINCIDENCEâ
Republican critics say the timing of VP Harrisâ long-awaited trip to the US border is convenient, considering Trump announced plans to visit the embattled region next week.
Trump is due to visit McAllen, Texas, some eight hundred miles away from where Harris will tour, next Wednesday with a group of House Republicans.
A spokesperson for the former president, Liz Harrington, told Politico: âItâs clear the sole reason Kamala Harris is going to the border is because President Trump announced his trip. No one disputes this.
âThatâs not leadership, thatâs political panic.â
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Katie Balevic
HARRIS POINTS FINGER OF BLAME AT TRUMP
Kamala Harris pointed the finger of blame over the unfolding crisis at the US-Mexico border at former President Donald Trump on Friday.
"We inherited a tough situation," she said, as she noted El Paso is where the controversial child separation policy began under the Trump administration. "In five months weâve made progress."
"Our administration â it is important to be clear â is working to build a fair and a functional and a humane immigration system.
"We have looked at a system where people have been housed in inhumane conditions over the last many years, an asylum system that has been broken and needs to be reconstructed."
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Katie Balevic
TRUMP: US IS BEING âDESTROYEDâ BY BIDENâS BORDER POLICIES
Speaking to Newsmax this morning, former President Donald Trump claimed that the US was being âdestroyedâ by the Biden administration for removing his âsuccessfulâ policies while he was in office.
âThis this country is being destroyed by what theyâre doing, and youâre talking about millions of people coming into our country and we have no idea who those people are,â Trump said.
âMany of them are serious criminals and murderers, rapists, drug dealers, human traffickers of women, mostly human traffickers. These are vicious people, smart people, and theyâve got plenty of money.â
Trump has routinely maintained that the US had the most secure border in the nationâs history under his administration, however crossing numbers were still incredibly high during his four years in office.
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Katie Balevic
RECORD NUMBER OF UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN CROSSED INTO US
A record number of unaccompanied migrant children crossed over the Mexico border into the US this spring, further intensifying Republican criticism of the White Houseâs handling of the crisis.
Customs and Border Patrol agents encountered more than 180,000 migrants at the southern border in May, putting the US on track to surpass the number of border crossings in fiscal year 2019.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Friday that the administration has made âextraordinary progressâ in dealing with the situation at the border since March.
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Katie Balevic
TEXAS REP. CALLS EL PASO THE 'NEW ELLIS ISLAND'
While the VP was on her visit to El Paso, Rep. Veronica Escobar called the city the "new Ellis Island," in a reference to the historic immigration center in New York City.
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Katie Balevic
REPUBLICANS RIP VP FOR NOT VISITING THE 'REAL BORDER'
"Calling Kamalaâs visit to El Paso a visit to the Southern Border is the equivalent of going to Olive Garden and saying youâve been to Italy," Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted.
"Vice President Kamala Harris isn't even going to the border. She's flying into El Paso and going to a Border Patrol facility that's miles from the physical border before flying to Los Angeles for the evening," the House Republicans twitter account posted.
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Katie Balevic
VP TWEETED ABOUT BORDER CRISIS
Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted about her visit to El Paso, Texas, which sits along the US-Mexico border.
"What happens at the border is directly connected to the work we are doing to address the root causes of migration from Central America.
"As I made clear during my trip to El Paso today, the President and I are committed to strengthening our immigration system at every level," the VP tweeted.
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Katie Balevic
HARRIS: 'WE INHERITED A TOUGH SITUATION'
Kamala Harris said the Biden administration "inherited a tough situation" at the border from the Trump administration.
Speaking to reporters after touring a migrant facility in El Paso, Harris also insisted that the White House has "made progress" on the crisis in the five months she's been in office.
"Our administration is working to build a fair, a functional and a human immigration system – we feel very strongly about that.
"As as you know we inherited a tough situation. In fact, El Paso was the launch of the child separation policy," she continued of the controversial Trump-era policy of separating migrant children from their parents to deter border crossings.
"In five months we've made progress, but there's still so much more we need to do."
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Katie Balevic
HARRIS: 'WE MUST STOP THE FINGER-POINTING'
Kamala Harris called on lawmakers on both sides of the partisan divide to stop "finger-pointing" and instead "get to work" in Congress to enact meaningful change on migration reform.
"We need to stop finger-pointing and do what we need to do. We need immigration reform. Congress must act, letâs do the work," the Vice President said.
Stopping short on making suggestions on what reform may include, Harris reiterated that the "root causes" of the migration surge must first be addressed to ease the burden on facilities along the US-Mexico border.
"You can't just react to a problem without acting on its roots," she said.
"Our work has just begun but it must be ongoing. It must be part of longterm investment and we must be consistent," she said.
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Katie Balevic
'WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS'
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Friday that when talking about migration, it's important to "not lose sight of the fact we're talking about human beings."
"We're talking about human beings," she reiterated. "We're talking about stories may have shared are about horrendous tales of abuse, fear and harm."
Harris said that such acts of abuse not only happen in an asylum seeker's own country but also "on their path" to asylum.
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Katie Balevic
'THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT TRIP' HARRIS SAYS AFTER TEXAS VISIT
Kamala Harris told reporters her long-awaited trip to the US-Mexico border was "great" and productive as she seeks to tackle the root causes of migration.
"As you've heard me say many times, most people donât want to leave home and when they do itâs usually because they are fleeing some kind of harm or they cannot take care of the simple and basic needs of their family by staying where they are," she said.
"We are here today to address and to talk about what has brought people to the US border … otherwise we will continue to see the effects we are seeing."
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Luke Kenton
HARRIS POINTS FINGER OF BLAME AT TRUMP
Kamala Harris pointed the finger of blame over the unfolding crisis at the US-Mexico border at former President Donald Trump on Friday.
"We inherited a tough situation," she said, as she noted El Paso is where the controversial child separation policy began under the Trump administration. "In five months weâve made progress."
"Our administration â it is important to be clear â is working to build a fair and a functional and a humane immigration system.
"We have looked at a system where people have been housed in inhumane conditions over the last many years, an asylum system that has been broken and needs to be reconstructed."
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Luke Kenton
RECORD NUMBER OF UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN CROSSED INTO US
A record number of unaccompanied migrant children crossed over the Mexico border into the US this spring, further intensifying Republican criticism of the White Houseâs handling of the crisis.
Customs and Border Patrol agents encountered more than 180,000 migrants at the southern border in May, putting the US on track to surpass the number of border crossings in fiscal year 2019.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Friday that the administration has made âextraordinary progressâ in dealing with the situation at the border since March.
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Luke Kenton
TRUMP: US IS BEING âDESTROYEDâ BY BIDENâS BORDER POLICIES
Speaking to Newsmax this morning, former President Donald Trump claimed that the US was being âdestroyedâ by the Biden administration for removing his âsuccessfulâ policies while he was in office.
âThis this country is being destroyed by what theyâre doing, and youâre talking about millions of people coming into our country and we have no idea who those people are,â Trump said.
âMany of them are serious criminals and murderers, rapists, drug dealers, human traffickers of women, mostly human traffickers. These are vicious people, smart people, and theyâve got plenty of money.â
Trump has routinely maintained that the US had the most secure border in the nationâs history under his administration, however crossing numbers were still incredibly high during his four years in office.
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Luke Kenton
TRUMP AIDE: TIMING OF HARRISâ TRIP âNO COINCIDENCEâ
Republican critics say the timing of VP Harrisâ long-awaited trip to the US border is convenient, considering Trump announced plans to visit the embattled region next week.
Trump is due to visit McAllen, Texas, some eight hundred miles away from where Harris will tour, next Wednesday with a group of House Republicans.
A spokesperson for the former president, Liz Harrington, told Politico: âItâs clear the sole reason Kamala Harris is going to the border is because President Trump announced his trip. No one disputes this.
âThatâs not leadership, thatâs political panic.â
Credit: AP -
Luke Kenton
ILLINOIS SEN. DICK DURBIN PRAISES HARRIS ON BORDER
Senator Dick Durbin lauded Harris' efforts at the border on Friday, insisting the VP has been working hard on immigration in the Senate.
He also said that her willingness to visit the border shows her "caring and commitment to meaningful immigration reform."
Durbin, like Harris, called on Congress to act, pointing out that it has been 35 years since a comprehensive immigration bill was last passed.
Credit: AP -
Luke Kenton
HARRIS TOUTS 'EXTREME PROGRESS' ON BORDER CONTROL
Addressing reporters at the close of her brief trip to El Paso, Harris said the Biden administration has made "extreme progress" in tackling the migrant surge that began when she took office five months ago.
In her speech, Harris credited Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for bringing resources, support and professionalism.
She also thanked the men and women of Customs and Border Patrol for all of their work.
"I commend all of them for their success they have seen thus far, I call it progress, we're not exactly where we want to be yet, but we've seen extreme progress over these last few months because of his dedication and his efforts," she said.
Harris' praise came despite 180,000 migrant crossings being reported in May alone.
Credit: Reuters -
Luke Kenton
TEXAS GOP LAWMAKER SLAMS HARRIS FOR 'PARACHUTING' INTO EL PASO
Republican Texas lawmaker Rep. Tony Gonzales hit out at the Vice President in an interview with Fox News on Friday for "parachuting" into El Paso for a mere few hours.
Gonzales, who called Harris' visit a "huge flop", said the Biden administration needs to spend far more time at the border if it's serious about aggressively tackling the surge in illegal crossings.
"Kamala's first visit to the border as vice president has been a huge flop," he said.
"You know, she's just kind of parachuted in, only listen to folks for a few hours. That's not how you listen to folks and that's not how you respond to it."
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Luke Kenton
HARRIS: BORDER SHOULDN'T BE REDUCED TO 'POLITICAL ISSUE'
During a news conference at the close of her trip to the border, Harris told reporters about two young girls she'd spoken to at the El Paso central processing center, a Customs and Border Patrol facility.
"They are without their parents. They are also full of hope. They were asking me questions. 'How do you become the first woman vice president?' But it also reminds me of the fact that this issue cannot be reduced to a political issue.
"We're talking about children. We're talking about families. We're talking about suffering. And our approach has to be thoughtful and effective," Harris said.
Harris routinely underscored the need to address the "root causes" of migration – such as crime and poverty – though stopped short of offering solutions for such issues.
"When we have this conversation about what's happening at the border, let's not lose sight of the fact that we're talking about human beings," she said.
"People don't want to leave home if they don't have to."
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Luke Kenton
DEMOCRATIC REP. SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION MAKING 'DEMS LOOK WEAK'
Republicans have seized on the absence of both Harris and President Joe Biden from the border to paint the administration as weak on border security, seeking to revive a potent political weapon against Democrats for the 2022 midterm elections.
Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar told the AP that both the President and Vice President are making the Democratic Party look "weak" ahead of the midterms.
âIâve heard, from Democrats and Republicans in my area, what the heck is going on with this administration?â
Cuellarâs district spans from south of San Antonio to the US-Mexico border, and last year he won reelection by the slimmest margin of his nearly two-decade-long career.
While he says heâs not worried about his own reelection, he adds, âI worry about my colleagues.â
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Luke Kenton
TEXAS GOVERNOR: HARRIS 'IGNORING PROBLEM AREAS'
Texas Gov Greg Abbott has said Vice President Kamala Harris will "fail in her mission" if she does not visit the Del Rio sector of the border as she attempt to get a grip on the migrant surge.
In his statement, Abbott accused Harris of âignoring the problem areas on our southern border that are being overrun by [President Joe Bidenâs] reckless open border policiesâ.
He suggested that Ms Harris âwill fail in her mission if she refuses to speak to residents of the Del Rio sector whose homes and ranches are being overrun by gangs and smugglersâ.
âThe vice president was named Border Czar over 90 days ago, and in that time Texans have had their homes broken into, property damaged, and guns pointed at their heads as cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers profit off the Biden Administrationâs reckless open-border policies,â Abbott said.
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Luke Kenton
HARRIS: 'DISASTROUS' TRUMP-ERA POLICIES REASON FOR EL PASO VISIT
When quizzed as to why she chose to visit El Paso, Texas, rather than the epicenter of the migrant surge in the Rio Grande, Harris told reporters that what's happening in El Paso "highlights the facets on issues of immigration."
Reeling off a series of "disastrous" Trump-era policies, such as the controversial child separation initiative and the "return to Mexico" policy, Harris said some of the root causes of the surge were actioned in El Paso.
"This was an important trip and it was connected with the obvious point: If you want to deal with the problem you can't just deal with the symptom, you have to address what caused it [too]," she said.
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Luke Kenton
HARRIS TOUTS 'PROGRESS' DESPITE RECORD SURGES IN MIGRANT CROSSINGS
Visiting El Paso, Harris called the situation at the border âtoughâ and said more work is needed, anchored in a thorough understanding of why migrants leave their homes.
She met with five young girls, ages 9-16, who had been held at a Customs and Border Protection processing center after crossing the border, the White House said, before visiting the border itself at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry.
Thus far, much of Harrisâ attention has been devoted to what she calls the âroot causesâ of migration, namely poverty, crime and corruption in Central America.
âThe stories that I heard today reinforce the nature of those root causes,â she said, adding, âIt is going to require, as we have been doing, a comprehensive approach that acknowledges each piece of this.â
During a meeting with faith-based organizations, as well as shelter and legal service providers, Harris said she and Biden âinherited a tough situation.ââ
She added: âIn five months weâve made progress, but thereâs still more work to be done, but weâve made progress.â
Credit: AFP -
Luke Kenton
HARRIS SKIRTS QUESTION ON WHETHER SHE'LL MEET WITH GOP LEADERS OVER BORDER
Kamala Harris fielded questions from reporters after a brief address in front of Air Force Two on Friday.
A reporter asked the Vice President: "Are you going to meet with other leaders or community organizations that have a different point of view, different perspective, even the GOP leaders?"
Harris responded: "I'm meeting with lots of folks and the work that we've begun is the work that is going to be ongoing."
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