Texas Democrat urges White House to replace Vice Prez Kamala Harris as 'border czar'

A Democratic lawmaker from Texas has urged the White House to identify a replacement for Vice President Kamala Harris as "border czar" so that the migrant crisis can be addressed, according to a report by Washington Examiner. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, November 17, South Texas' senior Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar said he is no longer dealing with Harris on immigration issues and has changed his focus to working with other Biden administration officials, whom he termed as more forthcoming and helpful. He further stated that he has moved on from the Vice President to say, 'Okay, let's work with the ambassadors and the State Department. Let's work with the Homeland Secretary to address the migrant issues.'

"With all due respect to the Vice President, I don't think she has done justice with her role as 'border czar.' She was given this title but he failed to put in any efforts there. Now it's high time we look for other folks who have the expertise on that," Cuellar was quoted as saying by the outlet. The Biden administration has been strongly condemned by political opponents for the extraordinary immigration influx since Kamala Harris' nomination as "border czar" in March. Her role was to improve conditions in nations like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which were the top three countries of origin for migrants, apart from Mexico.

Republicans continuously criticised Harris for not doing enough to address migrant issues

According to senior Border Patrol officers, Venezuela and Haiti have seen more residents cross the border than the Central American countries since September. Republicans have continuously criticised Harris for not doing enough to address the issue. Earlier in the month of June, Harris travelled to Guatemala and Mexico, urging illegal migrants "not to come" to the United States, and then she visited the US-Mexico border. However, thousands of Central American migrants have continued to approach the US border, fleeing poverty and crime in their own countries, reported news agency Sputnik.

It is significant to mention here that the number of noncitizens encountered attempting to enter the US from Mexico skyrocketed shortly after Biden entered the White House, rising from 80,000 in one month to over 215,000 by July. Meanwhile, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has registered nearly 65,000 migrant encounters since the beginning of October, up by 161% from the same period last year. According to data from US Customs and Border Protection, there were more than 164,000 migrant encounters along the US Southwest border, down by 14% from last month and 128% from the same time last year. 

Image: Twitter/@ Rep. Henry Cuellar/AP