WASHINGTON — Donald Trump goes to crime by painting an opponent to the new presidential campaign Kamala Harris as the face of a chaotic US borderPresident Joe Biden has given her a mandate in 2021 to work with Central American countries to address the “root causes” of migration.
Trump called the vice president a “border czar” at least six times during a fiery rally speech in North Carolina on Thursday, and his criticism of the asylum system has been suppressed. “Millions and millions and millions of illegal aliens are pouring in under Harris, the czar of the border,” Trump said, prompting laughter from the crowd for calling Harris “crazy.”
The term, widely used by Republicans to criticize Harris, dates back to March 2021, when Harris was indicted. refers to fluctuation Central American migrants from Northern Triangle countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where violence and organized crime have forced millions to flee the region. The terms “tsar” and “border tsar” did not appear in the White House materials, but caught on among critics.
A few days later, the governor of Texas, Republican Gregg Abbott, made one of the first prominent references to it. letter The White House asked Harris to “visit the border and see the crisis for yourself.”
“Now that President Biden has named you Border Czar for the administration’s response, I want to inform you of the threats and challenges posed by this administration’s open border policy,” he said in the letter.
Harris’s task was misunderstood: developing a regional strategy to reduce the need for migration was a diplomatic task, not a security task to monitor internal border enforcement.
The White House immediately sought to clarify that Harris’ mandate was not about the “border” and was narrowly focused on the forces driving migrants out of the Northern Triangle. But the headline stuck with the crisis fueled by those migrants.
Harris works on “freedom”, says little about migration
More than three years later, Harris became the de facto Democratic presidential nominee following Biden’s late decision to withdraw from the race, and his fledgling campaign has not focused on immigration or border security. And it has a public mission to address the root causes of migration That largely evaporated, an NBC News analysis showed Although the White House has said it has helped make key investments in Central America and continues to lead the way.
Harris has said little about immigration in recent speeches. His play the video Thursday cast her as a “liberty” candidate, highlighting issues like reproductive rights, access to health care and gun violence — not to mention immigration.
Migration patterns have also changed. The recent increase in border crossings has been driven by immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries outside the Northern Triangle.
Still, the issue of border security poses political pitfalls for Harris and the Democratic Party because it motivates conservatives. Polls have found voters increasingly trust the GOP to handle it. Biden and Democrats in Congress known thhourcraftsmanship a bilateral border bill To resolve the issue of immigration at the southern border with Republicans, however Trump and his allies In Congress killed.
Danielle Alvarez Harris, Trump’s chief campaign adviser, accused the campaign of “trying to rewrite history over its failures.”
“Border King Harris is the owner of a bloodbath on the southern border, including the rape, murder and brutal assault of women. Rachel Morin and Laken Riley. No matter how hard they try, Kamala and her allies cannot change the reality: she is responsible for migrant crime and the deadly flow of fentanyl into our country, and Americans will hold her accountable when they vote for President Trump in November,” Alvarez said. statement.
A memo from the GOP Senate campaign arm on Monday offered talking points for candidates to go after Harris: “Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s border czar and the architect of his greatest failure.”
Harris campaign follows Trump’s ‘tearing mothers from their children’
Harris campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz noted that Trump torpedoed the Senate border security deal this year, backed by the Biden-Harris White House. Trump successfully pushed Republicans to abandon the compromise they reached with Democrats while campaigning on the issue.
“Donald Trump’s only ‘plan’ to protect our border is to tear mothers from their children and a few xenophobic posters At the Republican National Convention. He stopped the bilateral border security agreement because for Donald Trump it was never about solving the problem,” Munoz said. “Like everything about Donald Trump, this has never helped the country, only himself. “There is only one candidate in this race who will fight for bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security, and that is Vice President Harris.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, scoffed at the GOP attacks.
“It was never a term intended for him. And the point of his work was to look at the root causes, not necessarily borders or border politics, and he did that successfully.” “And I think it’s always important to point out Republican obstructionism when it comes to immigration or border policy.”
As the bill failed in the Senate, Biden took executive action to crack down on asylum seekers. Illegal border crossings fell last month the lowest monthly figure During his presidency, it was lower in 2019 than in some months under Trump. Biden emphasized this in his address to the nation on Wednesday, saying that “border crossings are lower today than they were under Trump.”