Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to the border came under fire; various Border Patrol officers slammed her for visiting the “least problematic area”.
On Friday, the same day that Harris visited El Paso, Art Del Cueto (the National Border Patrol Council’s vice president) stepped forward and mentioned in an interview that Harris’ visit to El Paso is a “slap in the face” to officials putting their lives in peril every day dealing with areas way more problematic than El Paso.
Border Patrol Council VP: Harris' trip a 'dog and pony show,' and 'slap in the face' to border agents | Fox News https://t.co/yteFvwrYqw
— Ed – Conservative From L.A. (@Ed00498164) June 26, 2021
Del Cueto also mentioned that Harris picked a place that is the least problematic and is already “under control.”
He added that if Harris really intends to see how bad the situation is, she should have visited areas near Rio Grande Valley; if she wanted to see the magnitude of illegal crossings, she should have gone to Tucson, the number one place with the highest number of crossings.
Harris’s trip to the border came after Trump’s announcement
Critics also slammed Harris for avoiding areas hardest hit by the immigration crisis and for taking 93 days before visiting the border.
Harris’s trip to the border on Friday is her first time to visit the region since being tapped by Biden to address the issue. It also came a few days after Trump announced that he will be traveling to the region next week. This sparked allegations that if not for Trump’s announcement to visit the border, Harris wouldn’t have made the decision to take the trip.
Thank you President Trump for getting Vice President Harris to finally go to the southern border.
She would never go without you announcing your trip first.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) June 23, 2021
Meanwhile, a senior border official echoed the same sentiments as Del Cueto; the official said that if the vice president really wanted to see how bad the situation is, she should have gone to sites near the Rio Grande Valley or McAllen migrant facility.
The senior border official also mentioned that it will be interesting to see what will happen after Harris’s trip to the border and whether it will just remain a statement of “I visited the border”.
On the other hand, Tom Homan, former acting Immigration Custom’s enforcement chief, stated Harris has to visit the “epicenter” of the border crisis. He also added that the vice president chose El Paso because she doesn’t want to see the real damage that her administration engendered.
Del Cueto “unimpressed” with Harris’s trip to the border
Another Border Patrol officer who spoke privately stated he is “not surprised” it took a long time for Harris to visit the border. He added that Harris doesn’t look at the surge of illegal crossings as a problem.
The VP of the National Border Patrol Council also noted that he is not impressed by Harris’ trip to El Paso, since the area is already put under control.
Del Cueto added that Harris is putting on a “dog and pony show”.
Meanwhile, during a press briefing, Harris put the blame on the Trump administration, saying that they “inherited” a tough situation from them.
She also mentioned that the Biden-Harris administration is not at fault for the surge of migrants at the border, despite the fact that the overwhelming numbers of border crossings started weeks after they took office.
