Newhouse to Biden: Get a Handle on the Border Crisis
This country cannot afford another minute of inaction from Vice President Harris
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined Republican colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden requesting he relieve Vice President Harris of her border crisis responsibilities.
"Vice President Harris has said it herself, ‘to fix a problem, you have to go where it exists.' I've seen the border crisis firsthand, and it is truly out of control," said Rep. Newhouse. "It is inexcusable for this Administration and VP Harris, our ‘border czar,' to continue ignoring this crisis. It is high time for President Biden to appoint someone better suited for the position."
The lawmakers wrote, "The Vice President was tasked with solving this crisis on March 24, 2021, at a time when we were seeing roughly 5,500 encounters per day and record numbers of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) at our southern border. Despite being in the midst of a border crisis this country has not seen in two decades, Vice President Harris has not yet shown adequate interest in observing this crisis first-hand. In the 85 days since the Vice President has been tasked with solving this crisis, she has yet to visit the border and meet with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, and local law enforcement officials. In our experience, it is important to meet with these officials to learn about their perspectives and observations about the origins and motivations of the thousands of people coming here every day. It is an insult to our hardworking Border Patrol, ICE, and local law enforcement officials that put their lives on the line every day that the Vice President has yet to speak with them."
Read the full letter here and below.
Dear President Biden:
We write to express our serious concerns regarding Vice President Kamala Harris' appointment as your administration's leader to solve the border crisis.
In May 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 180,034 individuals at the southern border, compared to just 23,237 during the same month last year – a 675 percent increase. This figure does not even include "got aways", or those who sneak in without detection, which CBP officials estimate to be around 1,000 per day, compared to an average of just under 200 "got aways" per day in fiscal year 2020.
The Vice President was tasked with solving this crisis on March 24, 2021, at a time when we were seeing roughly 5,500 encounters per day and record numbers of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) at our southern border. Despite being in the midst of a border crisis this country has not seen in two decades, Vice President Harris has not yet shown adequate interest in observing this crisis first-hand. In the 85 days since the Vice President has been tasked with solving this crisis, she has yet to visit the border and meet with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, and local law enforcement officials. In our experience, it is important to meet with these officials to learn about their perspectives and observations about the origins and motivations of the thousands of people coming here every day. It is an insult to our hardworking Border Patrol, ICE, and local law enforcement officials that put their lives on the line every day that the Vice President has yet to speak with them.
Vice President Harris and your spokespeople have made excuses about her role in solving the crisis, claiming that her responsibility is to examine the "root causes" of migration. Vice
President Harris wrongly presumes that "root causes" of migration can only stem from a migrant's country of origin. Even if we assume that "root causes" only stem from a migrant's country of origin, the exclusive focus on Central American countries ignores the fact that we see many migrants attempting to illegally cross our southern border from countries all over the world, including Russia, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti. We are also aware of no dramatic changes in Central American countries over the last few months that would result in such a wide gap of encounters at the southern border compared to last year. Additionally, this presumption ignores the role of policy decisions made in the first four months of your administration play in enticing migrants to illegally cross our southern border. Perhaps if the Vice President took a moment to speak with our Border Patrol agents who are on the frontlines of this crisis, or even the thousands of migrants currently held in our border facilities, she and your administration would be able to grasp this reality.
At the time of her appointment, you stated, "I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this". We disagree. This country cannot afford another minute of inaction from Vice President Harris. While you have publicly defended the Vice President, even you must be discouraged with her inaction. We have all made mistakes in hiring and understand when someone else needs to be assigned to a task. We sincerely urge you find someone else in your administration to assist you in getting a handle on this border crisis.
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