EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday she was “glad to be here” on her first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as leader of the Biden administration’s response to a migration spike that’s drawn fire from Republicans and made fellow Democrats uncomfortable.
“It was always the plan to come here, and I think we’re gonna have a good productive day,” Harris said after arriving into El Paso.
Harris 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. She also spoke with agents about how they were using technology to streamline intake for migrants.
“You guys have made incredible advances in the last several months,” she told the agents.
Her schedule included talks with advocates from faith-based organizations, as well as shelter and legal service providers, after a drop-by at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry.
Biden’s first few months in office have seen record numbers of migrants attempting to cross the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 180,000 encounters on the Mexican border in May, the most since March 2000. Harris advisers have been careful to emphasize that her main focus is addressing the root causes of migration. She has been seeking economic and humanitarian solutions to improve conditions for residents of Central and North American countries who flee to the U.S. Her aides framed her trip to the border as part of an effort to better understand how to solve the problem.
“What happens at the border matters, and is directly connected to what is happening in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras,” said Harris spokeswoman Symone Sanders. “It is directly connected to the work of addressing the root causes of migration.”
Harris was being joined on the trip by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents the district there.
