A reporter pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the president’s confidence in Vice President Kamala Harris’ performance in addressing the immigration crisis, during a briefing Wednesday.
The White House hasn’t shared any updates on Vice President Kamala Harris’ task to address the “root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras” since February. Jean-Pierre said the president has confidence in the vice president, touting accomplishments that didn’t include immigration.
“She’s a partner with him on all of the successes that we have seen, what we been able to do in the first of this administration, the first three years of this administration,” Jean-Pierre said.
During the time that Harris has served as what Republicans have dubbed the “border czar,” Border Patrol recorded the highest level of illegal immigration on record with more than 2.2 million illegal crossings at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, according to the Congressional Research Service. Illegal migrant encounters also surpassed 2 million in fiscal year 2023.
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“I just listed out his historic pieces of legislation that we’ve been able to get done, whether it’s lowering prescription drugs, whether it’s dealing with veterans’ care, whether it’s dealing with climate change, whether it’s Bidenomics dealing with the economy. That is something that he has done in partnership with the vice president, so he has all confidence in her and will continue to do so, or he has confidence in the Vice President,” Jean-Pierre said.
Harris told migrants in June 2021 “do not come” to the U.S. during a trip to Guatemala. At Guatemala’s border with Honduras in October 2022, migrants told the DCNF that they didn’t believe the U.S. government was doing enough to solve the safety and economic issues that were leading them to flee their homes.
In December alone, federal authorities recorded more than 300,000 illegal crossings, marking the highest month on record, according to Fox News.
Jennie Taer on January 3, 2024
