Tipsheet

Wait, Kamala Harris Hardly Left the Airport for Her 'Border' Trip?

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  June 25, 2021 4:30 PM

Vice President Kamala Harris made her first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border Friday. She briefly left the El Paso airport to tour a Border Patrol station but did not make her way to the actual border. 

In January, the federal government finished 131 miles of new border wall, mandated by President Donald Trump, stretching from El Paso to New Mexico. 

The federal government has completed a total of 131 miles of border wall in the El Paso sector, the acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced in a media call on Tuesday.

"The border wall system proves its worth every day with every mile," said Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan. "We need to know who is coming into our country. The border wall helps us achieve that."

In 2019, El Paso was the epicenter of the migrant crisis, as ABC-7 reported extensively that year. On a weekly basis, thousands of migrants crossed into the region. Many of them declared asylum, telling agents they were fleeing violence from their home countries.

Morgan said the agency added almost 450 miles of border wall across the U.S.- Mexico border nationwide, with funding in place to build a total of almost 800 miles of system.

Harris's choice of El Paso was already absurd, given the illegal immigration crisis is at its peak in McAllen, which is nearly 800 miles away.