On the Border, the White House Isn’t Even Trying

VP Harris, the border ‘czar,’ has visited only once, and the administration is pointedly ignoring what many Americans are now calling an invasion.

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Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in her ceremonial office at the White House Complex in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2021.

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris made news for declaring that “we have a secure border” in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd. Of course, anyone who’s paying even the slightest attention to the situation at the southern border knows that it’s anything but secure. But Harris, despite having been appointed the Biden administration’s “border czar” in March last year, doesn’t seem to be paying attention. Why not?

The border crisis is playing a significant role in the forecasts of Democrats’ electoral woes in 2022: According to a Trafalgar pollster, “safety issues (crime, border security) are particularly driving opposition to Democrats,” Dan McLaughlin reported today. In this light, the Biden administration’s complete absence of even an attempt to appear interested in the issue seems, if nothing else, like bad politics. Harris has visited the border one time since she was tapped to deal with the crisis in early 2021. That visit, in late June 2021, came after months of haranguing from Republicans — and pleading from some Democrats — and it remains the only trip that Harris has expressed interest in taking. It has now been more than a year since the woman ostensibly tasked with solving the border crisis has even ventured down to the place where said crisis is occurring.

Nate Hochman

About the Author

Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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