Imprimir
Close
Kamala Harris y la crisis de la frontera sur: Una cronología
Por Adam Shaw
Publicado el 26 de julio de 2024
La vicepresidenta Kamala Harris es la presunta candidata demócrata a la presidencia en 2024, y uno de los temas que han surgido en los días transcurridos desde que recibió el apoyo del presidente Biden es su liderazgo en la gestión de la crisis migratoria en la frontera sur. Pero, ¿cuál es su papel y cuál es su historial?
March 2021 — Border orders
Migrant crossings at the southern border, which had been increasing in the last months of the Trump administration, skyrocketed after Biden entered office. Biden also rolled back a number of Trump-era initiatives and attempted to place a moratorium on deportations. With numbers rising quickly, Biden told reporters that Harris would be put in charge of tackling root causes, issues like climate change, poverty and violence the administration believes was driving migrants north.
"There’s about five other major things she’s handling, but I’ve asked her, the VP, today — because she’s the most qualified person to do it — to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border," he said.
Rápidamente, los medios de comunicación y los republicanos apodaron a Harris "zar de la frontera". La Casa Blanca rechazó ese título, pero se ha ceñido a ella desde entonces y la ha convertido en figura, junto con el secretario de DHS , Alejandro Mayorkas, para la crisis.
El Vicepresidente Kamala Harris habla con los periodistas tras llegar al Aeropuerto Internacional de El Paso el 25 de junio de 2021, en El Paso, Texas. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP vía Getty Images)
June 2021 — "Do not come"
After the assignment by Biden, and with numbers skyrocketing through subsequent months to record highs, Harris immediately came under pressure to visit the border as the White House said her role was more diplomatic than related to the border directly. She instead went to Mexico and Guatemala and had a stern message for migrants that upset immigrant activists.
"Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders," she said. "If you come to our border, you will be turned back."
Yet the migrants did continue to arrive, and the crisis only grew in the months ahead.
June 2021 — "I voted for you"
Un momento incómodo tuvo lugar durante su viaje a México, cuando pidió a una reportera llamada Maria Fernanda que le hiciera una pregunta durante una rueda de prensa. Pero en realidad se trataba de una activista.
"I voted for you," she said. "My question is, what would you say to these women, those mothers and also women of color on both sides of the border, farmers, many of them who I see every day as a message of hope but also as — what will you do for them in the next coming years?"
June 2021 — "I haven’t been to Europe"
As the pressure rose for her to go to the U.S. southern border, Harris pushed back.
"You haven’t been to the border," NBC’s Lester Holt told her, after she claimed she had been to the border.
"And I haven’t been to Europe," Harris quipped.
Later that month, she went to the border in El Paso, Texas, where she received a briefing and toured a processing center while meeting with advocates and providers.
Los inmigrantes que se encuentran al principio de la cola son procesados por el Servicio de Aduanas y Protección de Fronteras de Estados Unidos. Jon Michael Raasch/FoxFox News Digital)
Reports of dissent within Kamala world
Amid the ongoing crisis, reports emerged that Harris was dissatisfied with her role in general, including the border assignment. Politico reported that the border visit was a "chaotic moment" in an office dealing with diminished trust and low morale. In a book released in 2023, an author reported she let the assignment slide.
"Dejó que las críticas la guiaran", escribió Franklin Foer en "El último político". "En lugar de ceñirse diligentemente a la misión en Centroamérica, pareció aceptar la sabiduría convencional al respecto. Era un trabajo inútil, así que lo dejó de lado, perdiendo la oportunidad de abrirse camino hacia un logro significativo."
Sept 2021: "Whipping" narrative
Harris was one of the members of the administration who fueled a since-debunked narrative about migrants being whipped by Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector.
"What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were was horrible," Harris told reporters. "And I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into exactly what is going on there. But human beings should never be treated that way. And I'm deeply troubled about it. And I'll also be talking to Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas about it today."
A subsequent investigation faulted the agents for minor infractions but found the underlying claims migrants were whipped were not true.
February 2022: More time needed
Harris no se vería durante el resto de 2021 y 2022 en la estrategia sobre las causas profundas, aunque continuaría una iniciativa del sector privado para atraer inversiones destinadas a abordar esas causas profundas. Pero no volvería a visitar la frontera.
La vicepresidenta Kamala Harris y migrantes en la frontera sur. Getty Images)
Amid continually high numbers that outpaced 2021, Harris warned that her strategy could not be expected to bring results right away.
"None of this is going to be just turning on a switch. It requires focus. It requires intention. It requires an investment over a period of time, which means, in the short point, is that you’re not going to see the benefit of it overnight because the problems didn’t occur overnight," she said in an interview.
AXIOS HIT WITH COMMUNITY NOTE AFTER CLAIMING HARRIS WAS NEVER ‘BORDER CZAR’
June 2022: Los Angeles Summit
In June 2022, she traveled to the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles and met with other leaders on how to handle the crisis. During that summit, she announced that $3.2 billion in commitments from private sector companies had been secured. She also doubled down on the root causes explanation for the crisis.
"First, I do believe most people don't want to leave home. They don't want to leave their grandmother. They don't want to leave the place where they worship and the community that they've always known," she said. "And so, when they do, it is usually for one of two reasons: They are fleeing harm or to stay means they simply cannot satisfy their basic needs or the needs of their family."
But 2022’s summer broke records for migrant encounters, and those numbers would worsen in 2023.
September 2022: "Border is secure"
With a record summer having passed, Harris came under fire for declaring the border was secure despite the ongoing crisis and mass releases into the interior.
"The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, in particular over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed," Harris said on NBC.
2023: More records smashed
Harris made few appearances in 2023 relating to the border crisis, although her private investment strategy continued to bring in additional commitments from companies.
But the crisis did not stay out of the news, and 2023 broke new records for enormous amounts of migrant encounters and a number of chaotic scenes at the border.
Fiscal year 2023 broke the record for encounters with over 2.4 million, while December had nearly 250,000 encounters in a single month.
2024: Support for bipartisan bill, executive orders
While the White House continued to reject the "border czar" narrative, Harris put her support behind a bipartisan Senate agreement to provide more funding to the border and reduce migrant crossings when they reach a certain level.
She also backed a number of executive orders by President Biden, who would implement a limit on asylum and efforts to provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are spouses of U.S. citizens.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
As she began to step into the role of 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, Harris touted what her team sees as successes in the role. The project to rally private-sector investment to the region via a call to action has seen more than $5.2 billion committed since May 2021 from over 50 companies and organizations. Additionally, officials noted the numbers of encounters from Northern Triangle countries have fallen from over 700,000 in fiscal 2021 to over 330,000 so far as of May, with four months left to go.
However, according to CBP data, during 3½ years of the Biden/Harris administration, illegal crossings of migrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are up 140% over Trump's first term in office and are up 34% over all eight years of Obama's two terms in office.
Harris has also promised to roll out additional solutions to the border crisis, while accusing former President Trump of scuttling efforts for reform.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"[Trump] can make up whatever lies he wants, but the fact is there’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris," Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said.
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-border-crisis-timeline