President Biden assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to take charge of immigration from Central America. Now her team is concerned with how that could impact the vice president’s political career.
The U.S. southern border has gotten a significant amount of attention in the press. The Harris team has been hard at work at making it clear that she’s not in charge of or responsible for everything that is going on there.
Per a CNN report, two White House officials have said that Harris and her team are focusing on resolving the conditions in Central America that push people to relocate to the U.S.
The vice president is visit Guatemala and Mexico this week to discuss diplomatic efforts that could curb the number of people relocating to the United States. The trip is scheduled to last 48 hours.
Biden said Harris had been selected to lead this task force “because she’s the most qualified person to do it, to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle, and the countries that can help, need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.”
The Norther Triangle includes the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Soon after the announcement the vice president’s people panicked. They were afraid she would be held accountable for all activity on the U.S. border, a problem with no easy answers or solutions.
Some in the media have portrayed her role as having control over the situation at the border. Increasingly, she has received bad press on the matter, especially since there’s a growing number of arrivals through that part of the country.
The veep’s team believes that long-term solutions could be found if root causes of immigration are addressed. These include economic despair and dangerous living conditions for people in these countries — a tall order for any political leader anywhere.
“We have to give people some sense of hope that if they stay, that help is on the way,” Harris said on CNN.
“It’s not going to be solved overnight; it’s a complex issue. If this were easy, it would’ve been handled years ago.”
Border crisis
Immigration has been an evolving topic of concern in the U.S. This year has seen an increase in migration, especially from areas in Central and Southern America.
An estimated increase in border crossings on the order of 1,500% followed the Covid-19 disaster in countries south of the United States, leading to a surge of desperate immigrants seeking refuge from poverty, violence and despair at home.
Influencing factors include the pandemic and the perception that Biden’s administration is more lenient than that of former President Trump when it comes to migration.
