President Joe Biden tapped Kamala Harris to tackle the looming issue of immigration in March 2021, but according to an NBC News analysis of public documents, U.S. aid payments, the vice president’s public work on addressing the root causes of migration is months away. evaporated during and Harris’ travel schedule.
Harris In June 2021, he traveled to Mexico to sign an agreement that committed $4 billion in direct U.S. aid and more than $5.2 billion in private-public investment, but he did not visit the southern border or countries south of it. from January of the year. And despite their appeals Mexico its “Root Causes Strategy” made no new financial commitments for further investment.
When Harris owns Bidenborder kingAs critics have called it, the administration has been under pressure from both sides to deal with a growing number of migrants — especially unaccompanied children — crossing the border and landing in poor conditions under U.S. custody. On March 24, 2021, Biden took the stage at the White House and seemingly handed the keys to his vice president.
“The vice president has agreed — among many other things that I’ve led, and I appreciate it — to lead our diplomatic efforts to work with these nations to accept returnees and strengthen immigration enforcement at their borders,” Biden said.
In accepting the assignment, Harris made his role more specific, describing mainly diplomatic responsibilities. “I look forward to engaging in diplomacy with government, the private sector, civil society and leaders of each to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and ensure shared prosperity in the region. We will cooperate with Mexico and other countries in the Western Hemisphere.”
Biden administration officials pointed to those remarks, dismissing criticism that Harris has failed to address the crisis at the border, which has seen record crossings under Biden. They say his job is not to focus on working with countries in the region to address the root causes, and they reject the derisive title of “border czar”.
The Border Patrol said Harris did not perform any immigration-related tasks.
When Harris’ name is mentioned at the border, “it’s very eye-catching,” said Jon Anfinsen, national executive vice president of the Border Patrol Association of the National Border Patrol Council.
“I would ask what he has done in terms of addressing the root causes. This has been his goal for many years. What has changed? I would argue that it is not improved; it just got worse,” Anfinsen said. “About that time it kind of went away and you didn’t hear.”
But Daniel Suvor, who led Harris’ policy when she was California attorney general from 2014 to 2017, said he was not surprised she was chosen to address the root causes of migration in Central America.
“He has been interested in Central America for some time and has extensive contacts there,” Suvor said.
Suvor said Harris’ ties to Latin America stemmed from his work as the attorney general in the fight against drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations and his visits to Mexico City to meet with foreign officials.
“He realized then that he had to work with the Mexican government, the government of El Salvador, the government of Honduran, the government of Guatemala to take on the cartels.”
‘don’t come’
An NBC News investigation found that his travel to address grassroots issues in the region was largely limited to June 2021, with one trip to the El Paso, Texas border and another to Mexico and Guatemala. He made an additional visit to Honduras in January 2022.
His work in Guatemala may be the most memorable. It was where he faced criticism from immigration groups for telling migrants not to come to the United States.
But his work in Mexico was undoubtedly the most important. It was there that Mexico and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding to “enhance development cooperation in northern Central America … to share knowledge, expertise, assets and resources to address the root causes of illegal migration in northern Central America.” to the description of the contract by the State Department.
The agreement sent funds from the United States Agency for International Development and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation to help people in Central America. Since then, the U.S. has remained on track to meet its $4 billion commitment to address the root causes, but Harris has also been able to enlist significant help from private companies, which have invested $5.2 billion in the region since 2021.
These investments have funded entrepreneurs, secured labor rights, strengthened food security, and launched “19 projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras across sectors including financial inclusion, health, climate finance, and affordable housing.”
Since 2021, the Root Causes Strategy has made no new commitments, despite Mexico’s calls for more direct investment from the United States, not just from US companies.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said in May 2022 that the private investment strategy was too slow.
“We are ready to invest the US government,” he said at a press conference. “They have a very specific system – they think it’s enough to encourage private investment. If plants and factories are installed in Central America, then employment will be created. … It’s good, but it takes time.”
Harris made another trip to Central America later in 2021 to attend the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro in January 2022. According to the White House, Harris spoke with him about “fundamental solutions to combating corruption and gender-based violence.” reasons for migration”.
Since then, he has held two meetings in Washington, one with López Obrador in July 2022, and most recently with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo in March.
A White House official defended Harris’ record and said his case was ongoing. “Vice President Harris continues to lead efforts to address the root causes of migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, including by investing more than $5.2 billion in the region to provide economic opportunities for people at home. These investments create jobs and have brought more than 4.5 million people online and more than 2.5 million people into the formal financial system.”
“Under the leadership of the Vice President, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to implement the Root Causes Strategy. As part of this strategy, the Administration is on track to deliver on its commitment to allocate $4 billion to the region over four years and continues to work to fight corruption, reduce violence and empower women,” the White House official wrote.
Immigration think tanks and international non-governmental organizations also question the impact of Harris’ work on immigration.
“He had a very narrow mandate, he was to be the diplomatic representative in Central America at a time when most illegal immigration was coming from Central America,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. .
Since 2021, immigration from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, once the leaders in illegal immigration through the Southwest border, has dropped from 86,089 in March 2021 to 25,015 in June 2024, according to Customs and Border Protection data. fell to
But immigration experts say the decline is likely due to other factors, including U.S. border asylum policies and increased Mexican bans on U.S.-bound migrants. And during that time, immigration from countries such as Venezuela and China, which Harris has not been involved in the immigration debate, has increased.
Selee said USAID took over the money the US sent to Central America for development, while Harris focused on private sector investment.
“Vice President Harris was in early diplomatic contact with Central American governments, clarifying the path forward for these two initiatives and talking about curbing unauthorized migration,” Selee said. “But as far as I can tell, he hasn’t dealt with it diplomatically. And you know, over time, the State Department and the National Security Council really took over the diplomatic side.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, noted Harris’ role in establishing an anti-corruption task force with the Justice Department focused on Northern Triangle countries.
“I think of him [Harris] played a leadership role in addressing the root causes,” Vignarajah said.
“Do we believe this will solve the problem? No. Of course not. And Congress should be the real player here,” he said.