On Wednesday, Texas representative Chip Roy slammed Kamala Harris for going 29 days without news conference since being tapped for border crisis role. The Texas representative questioned whether the Vice President is committed to addressing the issues at the border.
Republicans on Wednesday continued to call for Harris to gain more firsthand experience despite her scheduled two more “virtual” events with regard to the crisis at the U.S. – Mexico border.
It’s been 29 days since Kamala Harris was named “Border Czar.” So far as Border Czar, she’s been to Virginia, Illinois, North Carolina, California, Connecticut, but not the border. The Biden Administration clearly doesn’t want to face the crisis it created.
— Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (@RepDLesko) April 22, 2021
It can be noted that in late March, the Vice President was appointed to be Biden’s manager for the administration’s role in the migrant crisis. However, she had gone days without a word.
Wednesday marked the 29th day that the Vice President has gone without facing reporters’ questions at a news conference to address questions related to the ongoing crisis at the border.
Meanwhile, Republican Representative Chip Roy has joined the list of GOP lawmakers who have publicly challenged whether Harris is committed to addressing the issues at the border. Including among these issues are the overcrowding at migrant shelters, rising numbers of unaccompanied minors being apprehended, and crimes that are happening in border towns by Mexican cartels.
During his appearance on Fox News’, Roy said, “Kamala Harris has been on the job for a month. Literally, she has done nothing.” He continued, “She’s not gone to the border. She’s done nothing to address this.”
The Texas representative also claimed that drug cartels had already taken “operational control” of the border region and that “Democrats refuse to do anything about it.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency at the southwest border in Arizona and said the state would deploy 250 National Guard troops to help local law enforcement https://t.co/Eb5xD9tFqx
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 21, 2021
Other than Roy, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey also called out that Biden administration on Wednesday to declare a national emergency along the border, a day after Ducey sent National Guard personnel to the area.
Ducey said, “We’re willing to pay for this out of our own budget, even though this is a federal responsibility and the costs should be paid by the federal government.”
Up to date, Vice President Kamala Harris has still not announced any plans to visit the U.S. – Mexico border, whether in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas or her home state of California.
According to reports, Harris will be traveling in June to the so called “Northern Triangle” region of Central America, including the nations of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but not the border. Conditions in those countries – including poverty, cartels and the effects of natural disasters, such as hurricanes – are said to contribute to sending migrants northward in an attempt to enter the U.S.
She also cautioned that her work isn’t likely to show noticeable results anytime soon.
“It will take some time to see the benefits of that work,” Ms. Harris said. “These are not issues that are going to be addressed overnight in terms of the root causes.”— Jean PM (@Jeapam) April 14, 2021
White House officials also made statements saying that Harris is focused to address the “root causes” of the migration rather than addressing the main conditions at the border itself. Said explanation however has not appeared to satisfy the Vice President’s critics and the Republican party.
Prior to Harris’ trip in June, she is scheduled to meet online next Monday with Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei and then follow up the next day by participating in an online roundtable with Guatemalan community groups, the vice president’s office said Wednesday.
