Harris draws criticism from all sides as she returns from Central America trip

WASHINGTON (SBG) — As Vice President Kamala Harris returned from her trip to Central America Wednesday, she faced fresh criticism from the right and the left over her comments on the causes of migration and her response to calls for her to visit the nation’s southern border.

"Do I declare this trip a success? Yes, I do,” Harris told reporters in Mexico City Tuesday. “It is success in terms of a pathway that is about progress."

President Joe Biden directed Harris in March to head up work with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador on “stemming the migration to our southern border.” Record numbers of unaccompanied minors attempted to cross the border in March, and, although the number of children detained has since declined, border apprehensions this year remain on track to be the highest in two decades.

The three-day visit to Mexico and Guatemala, Harris’ first international travel as vice president, represented the most proactive step she has taken yet in her effort to address the root causes of migration. Wrapping up the trip Tuesday, she pointed to advances in combating poverty, corruption, and human trafficking in the region.

“The work that we are doing by being in Guatemala yesterday and Mexico today is the work of reinforcing that we have to look at not only what is happening at the border but what is causing that to happen,” she said.

In Mexico, Harris agreed to new U.S. investments in affordable housing, infrastructure projects, and worker protections. The administration also announced a Justice Department-led task force to investigate corruption and train regional law enforcement.

Republicans expressed skepticism of Harris’ diplomatic progress, alleging the surge of migrants at the border is a direct result of Biden unraveling former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Biden reversed many Trump initiatives after taking office, though he has continued to rely on public health authority under Title 42 to turn away single adults and some families detained at the border during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Vice President Harris won’t find the root cause of the border crisis on her Central America tour because it’s her and President Biden’s policies that are actually responsible," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Monday.

Experts say it is too soon to judge the outcome of Harris’ trip, but it appears she accomplished much of what she set out to do. While her achievements might not satisfy her domestic critics, the U.S., Mexico, and Guatemala made concrete commitments that could ultimately help reduce the flow of migration.

“The short answer is that time will tell... This is part of a bigger diplomatic effort, so the proof is in the pudding,” said Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.

The White House has sought to distance Harris’ responsibilities from both the situation at the border and the administration’s broader immigration policies. Her mission is primarily a diplomatic one, much like the role Biden played in the Obama administration’s response to a surge of unaccompanied minors at the border in 2014.

That distinction has not quieted demands that she visit the U.S.-Mexico border. In an interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday, Harris brushed off a question from anchor Lester Holt about why she has chosen not to travel to the border in the nearly three months since she accepted the task of addressing the flow of migration from the Northern Triangle.

“And I haven't been to Europe,” she said. “I mean, I don't understand the point that you're making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border."

Amid a backlash over her defensive response to a predictable question, Harris and the White House spent much of the rest of the day reframing and revising her position on a border visit.

“I think that at some point she may go to the border,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. “We’ll see.”

Harris later made clear to CNN she intends to travel to the border eventually, but the timeline for that trip remains undetermined. She also continued to defend her decision to go to Central America first.

"I think it is short-sighted for any of us who are in the business of problem-solving to suggest that we are only going to respond to the reaction as opposed to addressing the cause," Harris said at a news conference.

The muddled messaging regarding when or if Harris would visit the border threatened to overshadow a diplomatic mission that appears to have gone relatively well. According to Jason Mollica, a strategic communications expert at American University, Harris’ answers handed new ammunition to Biden’s opponents on an issue where the administration was already politically vulnerable.

“Vice President Harris’ responses to questions about not visiting the border did take the light away from the actual visits,” Mollica said. “That said, the trip’s stated focus was about looking at the root cause of migration.”

Sharing the clip of the NBC exchange on social media, Republicans accused Harris of downplaying an ongoing crisis at the border and ignoring the needs of residents and law enforcement in border communities. Some GOP lawmakers referred to Harris as Biden’s “border czar,” a label which she has rejected.

“Many Americans living in border communities are afraid to leave their homes. Smugglers are abandoning children as young as 5-years old on the border. Fentanyl seizures are increasing across the country,” said Tommy Pigott, Republican National Committee rapid response director, in a statement. “Yet, Biden and Harris continue to fail the American people.”

Although a handful of Democrats have encouraged Harris to make a trip to the border, most within the party have dismissed a potential appearance there as an empty public relations gesture. Bannon suggested it would make more sense to wait and see how her diplomatic initiatives work out.

“A trip to the border is symbolic,” he said. “I’m not sure it would accomplish anything. I think the vice president is well aware of the situation at the border, and I’m not sure she has to go there to do a photo op to make the point.”

However, regardless of the political dynamics involved, some experts say there is value for policymakers in speaking directly with migrants and the people who interact with them at the southern border. They can sometimes offer insight that high-level diplomatic meetings cannot.

“Seeing in person what immigrants are going through, what the border police are going through, what the lawyers are going throughit brings it home,” said Cynthia McClintock, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University who studies Latin America. “It brings home all these challenges.”

Progressives were also disappointed by some of Harris’ actions in Central America, particularly the blunt message she delivered to would-be migrants in Guatemala: “Do not come.” Many argued that those living under harsh conditions in the Northern Triangle should not be discouraged from exercising their legal right to seek asylum in a safer country.

"This whole 'stay there and die' approach is not how our country will promote a more humane and just immigration system," tweeted Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

Other administration officials echoed Harris’ sentiment that making the dangerous trek north is ill-advised. However, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., cast blame for the instability and corruption in Latin America on decades of U.S. foreign policy.

“We can't help set someone's house on fire and then blame them for fleeing," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Even some advocates for a more humane border policy say Harris’ words were important and appropriate, though. As long as the U.S. is turning away most migrants and the chances of advancing a successful asylum claim are low, Northern Triangle residents need to understand the risks of making the journey to the U.S.

“This is a really tough issue, and for all kinds of reasons, I think it’s important to send the message that this is not an easy trip to take and it’s not necessarily going to end well,” McClintock said.

As Harris departed Mexico Tuesday, Axios reported preliminary Customs and Border Protection data showed border apprehensions for the current fiscal year are already the highest since 2006 with four months to go. Final data for May has not been released yet, but total monthly apprehensions hit a 21-year high in April, even as the number of children and families taken into custody fell.

Immigration advocates maintain apprehension figures do not provide a clear picture of what is happening at the border or how it compares to past decades. Far more border-crossers evaded capture 15 years ago, and many of the adults taken into custody in the last year were people who made multiple attempts to cross and were repeatedly sent away under Title 42.

Still, attempted border crossings have undoubtedly risen substantially since President Biden took office in January, and polls suggest public concern about illegal immigration is taking a political toll. Harris acknowledged the administration has a long way to go to solve the fundamental problems driving migration.

“If this were easy,” she said in Mexico City, “it would have been handled a long time ago.”

The blowback Harris received from all sides in recent days underscored the immense political challenges of the assignment she accepted. Fighting the root causes of migration has been an unrealized goal for the last several administrations, and it could take years for the effects of successful initiatives to be felt.

In the meantime, Republicans will likely continue to lay blame on the vice president for any difficulties the administration faces at the southern border, no matter what the White House says Harris’ responsibilities are. As a probable Democratic presidential candidate in 2024 or 2028, a perceived failure could come back to haunt her.

“As the individual making these visits, Vice President Harris is the ‘face’ of what is—or what is not—happening at the border,” Mollica said. “The coming months will tell just how much effect this has on her future political capital.”