Kamala Harris will Visit US-Mexico Border Under Immigration Scrutiny

Washington: US Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the country’s border with Mexico on Friday, the White House announced, as the Biden administration faces intense scrutiny over its handling of increased immigration.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants, many of them fleeing poverty and violence in Central America, have attempted to cross into the United States in recent months, prompting scathing criticism from Republicans that President Joe’s more humane approach to immigration Biden was causing a crisis rather than preventing it.

Harris’ senior adviser Symone Sanders said Wednesday that the vice president will visit the border city of El Paso, Texas, and will be accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Biden tasked Harris earlier this year with overseeing efforts to address what the administration describes as the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The vice president traveled to Guatemala and Mexico in early June to address the issue but received criticism from critics for comments that seemed to downplay the border crisis.

She was also criticized for not stopping at the border to see the situation firsthand during her international mission.

Harris continues to address the root causes of illegal immigration “and works in concert to bring the situation under control,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“This trip to the border on Friday will be part of this effort.”

The White House did not provide details on Harris’ border plans, saying more details will be released.

The vice president’s trip will come a few days before Donald Trump visits the border on June 30, in an attempt to contrast his tough stance on immigration with the more humane approach of the successor Biden.

“After months of ignoring the crisis on the southern border, it is great that we got Kamala Harris to finally go and see the tremendous destruction and death they have created, a direct result of Biden ending my tough but fair border policies.” the former president said in a statement.