Kamala needs to answer a number of questions before she thinks she can be the president.
On Tuesday, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), initiated an investigation into Vice President Kamala Harris’s role in handling immigration issues at the U.S.-Mexico border. The committee is requesting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide documents related to Harris’s involvement, even though CBP’s primary responsibilities do not directly include the broader immigration strategies for the region.
Rep. Comer’s move aims to spotlight an issue Republicans believe will be advantageous for them in upcoming elections. Vice President Harris was assigned by President Biden to oversee the administration’s “root causes” strategy, which focuses on investing in development and democratic reforms across Latin America to reduce immigration pressures on the United States.
The request from Comer seeks all communications between CBP and Harris’s office. While CBP manages daily border operations, its role does not extend to the overarching immigration strategies or initiatives that Harris is spearheading. Key agencies like the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. trade representative are more directly involved in the root causes strategy. The CBP website makes no mention of this initiative, unlike the extensive information available from the State Department and USAID.
In his letter, Comer expressed concerns about the Vice President’s effectiveness in addressing the border crisis, questioning whether Harris’s actions have made any significant impact. Comer’s request specifically targets documents related to the southwest border and illegal immigration, despite CBP’s limited involvement in the broader strategy Harris is managing.
Although CBP’s role is limited to processing migrants and managing border encounters, it has been involved in vetting migrants from a separate Biden administration program that allows temporary entry for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua who have U.S.-based sponsors.
Comer’s office did not provide a detailed explanation for why they are seeking information from CBP rather than other agencies directly related to Harris’s portfolio. However, the letter’s reference to Harris as a “border czar” indicates an ongoing effort to scrutinize her performance in this role, akin to earlier criticisms directed at Roberta Jacobson, who was the administration’s special assistant and Southwest border coordinator.
The inquiry follows a recent report by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), which assessed the handling of migrants on the terror watch list by the Biden-Harris administration. Despite Republican criticisms, Democrats argue that GOP opposition has hindered progress on immigration reform, pointing to the failure of a bipartisan deal after criticism from former President Trump.
In response to border challenges, the Biden administration implemented a policy in June that restricted asylum and border movement, leading to a decrease in border crossings. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that June saw 83,536 encounters between ports of entry, the lowest figure since January 2021, and fewer than the numbers recorded in June 2019, prior to the pandemic.