Kamala Harris to lead efforts of Biden Administration to stem migration at US Border

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On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden announced that he had tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the administration’s efforts to stem migration at the southern border. Her role came as border unease has increased since President Biden took office. Biden delivered his words at the White House and said, “She’s the most qualified person to do it, to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, and the countries that are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border. It’s not her full responsibility and job, but she’s leading the effort, because I think the best thing to do is put someone who, when he or she speaks, they don’t have to wonder about, is that where the president is?”.

President Biden added, “As she speaks, she speaks for me, doesn’t have to check with me, she knows what she’s doing, and I hope we can move this along”. A senior White House official said, “Starting today the Northern Triangle nations and Mexico will know there is one senior official dedicated to this effort. She is really going to look at two tracks. She is going to work first on the goal of stemming the flow of irregular migrants to the US, but also at the same time, and as part of the broader context, her real goal is the establishment of a strategic partnership with these countries that is based on respect and shared values”. Moreover, Harris plans to work on making it safer for people to apply for asylum and legal pathways in their home nations instead of making the dangerous trip.

President Biden is signaling to Mexican and Central American officials the seriousness with which his administration is approaching the situation by appointing his deputy to take the lead. Wednesday’s announcement came after US officials along the southern border made at least 100,000 apprehensions in February. It was a 28% increase from the previous month and most of them were single adult migrants who were expelled under a Trump-era public health order. At least 9,500 unaccompanied entered US border custody in February. The US border officials are on track to take into custody more than 16,000 unaccompanied children in March, an all-time high with an average of 530 encounters per day. It is noteworthy that there are currently at least 11,300 unaccompanied children in Health and Human Services shelters and thousands of others in CBP holding facilities near the southern border.