OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Kamala Harris, who was appointed by Joe Biden to serve as the “border czar,” is under fire again this week for choosing to visit Paris to discuss migration and borders.
“Criticized at home by Republicans for not focusing enough on the Biden border crisis or visiting U.S.-Mexico border hot spots, Harris will address migration and refugees during her third international trip next week from Monday to Saturday,” the Washinton Examiner’s Paul Bedard reported.
“At a meeting on Libya, the vice president will focus on the plight of migrants and refugees, said a senior administration official,” Bedard added in his report.
She will “be expressing a deep concern for human rights and the situation of migrants and refugees, and reinforce the imperative of protecting vulnerable people, including those fleeing conflict.”
“Specifically, on Libya, we want to show our support for the Libyan people as they move towards national elections and as they focus on the importance of the withdrawal of foreign forces and mercenaries and fighters from Libya. We want to build a stable and prosperous Libya free from foreign interference and capable of combating terrorism within its borders,” said a White House briefer.
And in meetings and a separate Paris Peace Forum, she is to push for a global focus on “gender equality,” “sports diplomacy,” and “rising inequality,” said two White House officials in a background call.
Harris came under fire last month for choosing to visit a New Jersey bakery rather than traveling to Mexico with other Biden officials to address the crisis at the border.
During a segment on Fox News, the panel took turns slamming Harris for traveling everywhere other than the U.S.-Mexico border.
Below is a transcript:
Dana Perino: “I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t understand it. I really think that her instincts seem to be really off. Because if you followed her Senate career, she never actually passed a bill, but she showed up at every press conference to talk about the bills that had passed. And the root causes of the immigration debacle, they are not going to be solved within this administration where she can go on and give a press release. Do you remember when she had the gaffe where she laughed about going to the border?
The next day it was when President Biden said well, now you’re in charge of the border. And then, about five days later, they were like, actually, no, just the root causes of the border. So, here’s this person who achieved an incredible accomplishment. She is the first woman vice president in our country. It’s an amazing accomplishment. It comes with a lot of power and a lot of prestige and she doesn’t use any of it and it drives me crazy. I never — if I were in her position, I never would’ve let those three guys go down to Mexico without me. I would’ve said, actually, you could fly in Air Force Two with me and you can brief me along the way and then we’ll walk in there together as a team and I will be the one that is speaking at the — take charge of it instead. It’s perfectly fine to talk about space with kids. It’s great, but if you think about the enormity of the power that she has and the capacity and the capabilities that should come with that office, and she’s not utilizing it, it drives me nuts.”
WATCH:
Several top members of the Biden administration were in Mexico City last Friday for a meeting with Mexican officials regarding security along the U.S.-Mexico border — except for Harris.
Harris, whom President Biden appointed in March to manage the U.S. response to the migrant crisis along the border, went to New Jersey instead.
Attending the high-level talks in Mexico’s capital were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Harris not being present at a meeting with that many top officials speaks volumes to how she has handled the border crisis.
