Presented with rise in border crossings, Harris chose long-term approach to problem

[rangerrebew]

Presented with rise in border crossings, Harris chose long-term approach to problem
by: DAN MERICA, NICHOLAS RICCARDI and CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

Posted: Aug 14, 2024 / 01:13 PM CDT

Updated: Aug 14, 2024 / 08:04 PM CDT

 
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, watching tens of thousands of migrants from Central America reach the U.S.-Mexico border just a few months into his administration, tapped his second-in-command to help address the influx — a decision that has exposed Vice President Kamala Harris to one of her biggest political liabilities.

In grappling with migration, Harris proceeded cautiously. She focused her time and prestige on boosting private investment in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle; her goal was to help create jobs to bolster economies and dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to the United States.

Takeaways: Harris’ approach to migration was more nuanced than critics or allies portray it
It was a decidedly long-term — and limited — approach to a humanitarian crisis, and it has allowed Republicans to tie her to the broader fight over the border. While migration from the Northern Triangle ebbed, it surged from other nations, sparking an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, one that Republicans have aggressively sought to exploit at Harris’ expense.

https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/presented-with-rise-in-border-crossings-harris-chose-long-term-approach-to-problem/

[rangerrebew]

Well, I'll be.  Here I thought the crisis was because she hadn't done a d*mn thing to manage it and now I find out its only because she has chosen a long-term solution to an immediate crisis. 

My bad!
 

[Timber Rattler]

What a pack of lies that article is.

Flashback:

Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris’ frustrating start as vice president

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/14/politics/kamala-harris-frustrating-start-vice-president/index.html

growing, even stemming from Harris’ first assignment from Biden this spring. The situation has become a back and forth of irritations – some real, some perceived.

Harris’ team was mad Biden had assigned her to handle diplomatic relations with the Northern Triangle nations, in hopes of addressing the root causes of migration to the US, but gave her no role on the southern border itself. That become the most visible crisis in the early days of Biden’s presidency as unaccompanied minors overwhelmed federal government resources. It seemed like an all-around politically losing assignment even though Biden had seen it as a sign of respect because it was the same job Obama had given him as vice president.

As CNN has previously reported, Harris herself has said she didn’t want to be assigned to manage the border, aware that it was a no-win political situation that would only sandbag her in the future. But Biden’s team was annoyed that Harris fumbled answers about the border, including when she gave an awkward, laughing response about not visiting it during a spring interview with NBC’s Lester Holt.

As some around Harris see it, the White House failed to come to her defense. That was especially galling since they had given her the unpleasant task on her first foreign trip of carrying the administration’s harsh “do not come” policy, according to one source familiar with the workings of the office.

A number of West Wing aides were mad when, a few weeks later, she made a sudden trip to the border after her staff gave only a few days warning to the White House, particularly after White House aides had taken time to knock down the idea that she should go as half-baked Republican spin. But this was in part a misunderstanding: White House chief of staff Ron Klain and a small circle of West Wing aides had known about the trip far in advance but had been careful not to spread the word to avoid leaks.

Jean-Pierre ducks question on VP Kamala Harris border help as migrant rush looms

https://nypost.com/2022/12/19/jean-pierre-says-bidens-lack-of-border-visit-has-been-litigated/

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre passed the buck Monday when asked what “migration czar” Vice President Kamala Harris had done recently to address the continued humanitarian crisis at the US -Mexico border.

“[Is] there any update from this side of the White House on what she’s doing and what she will continue to do as we’re expecting an influx at the border?” asked Washington Post reporter Tyler Pager.

Jean-Pierre replied: “[President Biden] appreciates the partnership that he has with the vice president. You’re right, that has been her charge to work in a diplomatic way in finding the root causes of migration. I don’t have anything to lay out specifically on what that work looks like. But again, we appreciate her partnership and I would probably refer you to her office on anything specific on the work that she’s doing.”

Kamala Harris sidelined amid growing tensions with Biden, insiders say

https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/kamala-harris-sidelined-amid-tensions-with-president-biden/

Vice President Kamala Harris feels increasingly isolated inside the White House as her approval ratings plummet — with the first female veep believing she’s not getting the same support given to other members of the Biden administration, according to a detailed new report.

“It’s hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a white man, knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn’t want to take themselves,” a former Harris aide told CNN, which based its report on interviews with nearly three dozen insiders.

The ex-staffer was referring to the Biden administration springing to defend Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for taking paternity leave amid the global supply chain crisis. Buttigieg is considered a potential challenger to Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination either in 2024 or 2028.

Despite their public show of unity, Biden and his right-hand woman have a dysfunctional relationship that has reached an “exhausted stalemate,” according the network.

At a time when the president would usually be expected to promote his vice president as a future replacement, Biden has instead been sidelining Harris as a potential liability, the report said.

For their part, Harris’ allies are reportedly frustrated with the president for dumping politically fraught issues in her lap — including, infamously, the ongoing illegal immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border. “They’re consistently sending her out there on losing issues in the wrong situations for her skill set,” summed up one former top Harris aide to CNN.

Other aides say the vice president should have asked for better-defined responsibilities at the start of the administration, but has not done so out of fear of appearing disloyal to the president.

In March, Biden announced that Harris would lead the administration’s talks with Mexico and Central American countries about slowing the tide of migrants crossing the US border.

However, with the exception of a rocky visit to Mexico and Guatemala in early June and a brief trip to El Paso at the end of that month, Harris has largely avoided the issue in public. Last month — while Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas met with their Mexican counterparts about the issue — Harris was in New Jersey to promote Biden’s multitrillion-dollar social spending bill.

Insiders told CNN the West Wing has been especially bothered by Harris’ handling of the border issue. The veep’s trip to Mexico and Guatemala was overshadowed by a disastrous interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, in which Harris responded to Holt by noting that she hadn’t yet been to the frontier region by chuckling and joking: “And I haven’t been to Europe.”

Immigration advocates have also expressed disappointment with Harris. Fernando García, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights, told CNN that he was optimistic Harris would take action, but she instead just “disappeared.”

[Smokin Joe]

 It just goes to show, that given enough time and the combined talent of private sector (Media) and Government creative writing staffs, a nearly plausible excuse can be found for virtually anything.