AUSTIN (Nexstar) — As Vice President Harris mounts her campaign for president, Texas Republicans are criticizing her record on immigration policy, directing their attacks on one of President Biden’s biggest policy liabilities onto her.
On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz both referred to Harris as the United States’ “border czar.” Harris has been responsible for some aspects of the administration’s immigration policy, but has never had the official title of ” border czar.”
Harris has not, as that title may suggest, had broad responsibility for border security. She has been focusing specifically on long-term stability in Central America.
Since 2021, Harris has traveled to common migrant origin points like Guatemala and Honduras to address the “root causes” of migration — the violence, poverty, and corruption that pushes people north.
“I don’t know that the work that she did would have an immediate impact on the border, but I do know that it is a piece of a bigger puzzle when we think about how to manage the border and manage our migration system in a way that takes into account the realities of why people leave their homes,” Director of the Bush Institute’s Economic Growth Initiative Laura Collins said.
In March, Harris announced her “Central America Forward” initiative has spurred more than $5 billion of private sector investment. Her office said this would create more than 70,000 jobs and provide internet access for more than 4.5 million people.
“Most people don’t want to leave home, and when they do it is for one of two reasons: because they are fleeing some harm, or because to stay at home means they cannot satisfy the basic needs of their family,” Vice President Harris said in El Paso in 2021. “We have the capacity to give people hope and the belief that help is on the way.”
Her time spent on this side of the Rio Grande has attracted criticism, however. She has visited the Texas border just once. When Republicans were warning of a major migrant surge in the Rio Grande Valley, she visited El Paso.
“It’s not even fair to say that she’s a day late and a dollar short. She’s nearly a hundred days late and a thousand miles short,” Sen. John Cornyn said on the Senate floor in 2021.
While President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas hold primary responsibility for the day-to-day security of the border, experts say it may take years to know how effective Harris’ efforts have been.
“We cannot control why people leave their homes,” Collins said. “It really is important for us to think bigger than just what the United States puts in place in terms of laws and enforcement, and think more about motivations for why people are coming, to better understand how we can manage migration and not just fear it.”