The desperation is palpable.
This week already we have seen a flood of news items sternly informing the electorate on their impressions of Kamala Harris and her work on the southern regions. She’s not the Border Czar! go the hyperactive and insistent reports, the authoritative tones completely wiped out by two things; reality, and her track record.
It is a pedantic argument. No, Kamala Harris was never officially appointed the title “Border Czar”, but this is not the key component, nor is it accurate to say it was wholly a Republican fabrication. Axios is one of the outlets making the claim this was a GOP charge, yet there was Axios in 2021, applying that very label to Harris, as have others. She was, however, placed in charge of the border issue early in the Biden term.
This fact is something the press is straining to recalibrate. Recognizing that immigration is both a major concern for voters as well as a massive critique of Harris, news outlets are attempting to distance her from culpability as much as possible. The new narrative is that she was never really in charge of the border directly and that her role was one of a more diplomatic approach. This is not the hoped-for solution, because no matter how it is approached, the border under the Biden administration has been a consummate disaster.
If the press wants to assign blame for why Harris is tied so close to the border issue all they need to do is hold up a mirror. When it was announced in Biden’s second month that he was placing Harris in the role of overseeing the border it was enthusiastically reported and praised. Today’s attempt to paint Kamala in more of an administrative role defies their own coverage from March of 2021.
When the announcement was made then - yes - there was mention of how Harris would be charged with addressing issues inside of those nations generating the migrations, with the term “root cause” frequently repeated. But it was also declared she would be working on things in a more direct role of oversight.
According to the Associated Press the decision was for, “Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border.” Her role was described as “curbing the current flow”, and “stemming the migration” by NBC News. Axios raved, “President Biden has put Harris in charge of solving the migrant surge at the southern border.” We also were told “Harris is in charge of the thorny issue of migration from Central America,” by NPR detailed later that summer. According to Politico, Harris was in a position that sounded even more involved than a Border Czar role. “Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House’s point person on immigration issues at the nation’s southern border…tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants.”
Now this week we get told “Harris was never put in charge of the border or immigration policy” (Time), “Joe Biden tasked Harris with leading the administration’s diplomatic efforts” (USA Today), and “that did not mean she was in charge of the border,” (Mother Jones). The comedy in all of this gets better, as we hear from the most authoritative source about what Kamala’s role would entail.
This effort to diminish the role of Harris as only being a face of an outreach effort abroad is defied by none other than -- Harris herself. As the New York Times reported at the time, Kamala would have a “prominent role” handed to her from Biden, and “Vice President Kamala Harris would lead the administration’s efforts to deter migration to the southwestern border.” (Emphasis added to underscore today's lying taking place.) Then we hear how this new dodge seen in the press (that Harris only had diplomatic assignments) defies the very words delivered by the Vice President herself at the time. She touted how she would have a two-pronged assignment, involving border security at home AND working internationally.
“While we are clear that people should not come to the border now, we also understand that we will enforce the law,” Ms. Harris said before a White House meeting with top immigration officials. “We also — because we can chew gum and walk at the same time — must address the root causes that cause people to make the trek.”
Note she highlights enforcing border laws domestically, and then gives passing mention to the outreach portion as an “also” enterprise. But now we have it insisted that not only was the “root cause” task more important, it is sold as the only aspect of Kamala’s duties, while the border enforcement was someone else’s responsibility. It is an impotent reframing effort that underscores how vulnerable she is on this matter.
One inescapable fact remains: After the Harris appointment the Biden administration has overseen the worst influx of illegal immigrant arrivals. And since her assignment the White House, the walking failure DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the press have all spent the ensuing years insisting there was no crisis at the southern border.
Lies, gaslighting, misinformation – any of the elements of the news the press pretends to revile are on full display this week.
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