VP Harris comments on border crisis for the first time in a month by slamming border patrol agents: ‘Horrible’
Kamala Harris slammed the treatment of Haitian migrants by border patrol agents amid the ongoing crisis at the southern border.
“What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were, was horrible,” Harris told reporters on Tuesday.
Harris also stated that she supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opening an investigation into border patrol agents seeming to use whips on Haitian migrants.
“I fully support what is happening right now, which is a thorough investigation into exactly what is going on there,” Harris said. “But human beings should never be treated that way. And I’m deeply troubled about it.”
DHS allegedly began sending Haitian migrants back to their homeland in removal flights on Sunday, and DHS Security Secretary Mayorkas said the department would continue ramping up deportations. The move prompted scores of illegal migrants to trek across the Rio Grande River in Mexico to avoid deportation back to Haiti.
“We are increasing the frequency and number of repatriation flights each day,” Mayorkas said on Tuesday. “And we are hoping that what we are doing now serves as a deterrent because it backs up the words that we have spoken since the very outset: that irregular migration is not the way to enter the United States. It will not work.”
Harris, who was made border czar by President Biden back in March, has been criticized for seemingly ignoring the crisis. In June, she made her first visit to the border and told migrants not to come to the country, though she prompted further criticism due to her ‘wishy-washy’ rhetoric.
“Do not come,” Harris said. “I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back,” she added.
Harris has also been slammed for not working with border-state governors.
“At no point in her career has [Harris] given any indication that she considers the border a problem or a serious threat,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) said. “If President Biden’s intent was to show that he’s taking this issue seriously, he’s really done the exact opposite.”
Ducey reportedly told a journalist Tuesday morning that Harris won’t even respond to his invitations to visit the Arizona border, and even said that he has never spoken to her despite the mounting crisis.
“Worst choice possible to be border czar,” Ducey reportedly said.
VP Harris’ staff did not respond to the Independent Chronicle’s request for comment.