In an interview earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris defended her decision not to visit the U.S.- Mexico border despite the humanitarian crisis.
She said that her focus on the root causes of migration is the key to stemming the flow of undocumented immigrants. During the interview she stated, “We have to understand that there’s a reason people are arriving at our border and ask what is that reason and then identify the problems so we can fix it.”
Harris accredited the decision of migrants to flee their home countries to extreme hardships caused by draught, hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption, and violence. The administration is taking a multifaced approach to the issue.
Harris noted that the administration will send 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Guatemala and she is currently working with U.S. corporations to help people connect to technology. For example, she has asked Microsoft to partner with the federal government to help people in Guatemala and elsewhere to gain access to banking systems. They are also working with Mastercard to give people direct access to banking mechanisms.
Harris further stated, “Listen, I care about what’s happening on the border. I’m in Guatemala because my focus is dealing with the root causes of migration. There may be some who think that that is not important, but it is my firm belief that if we care about what’s happening at the border, we better care about the root causes and address that.”
At the end of the interview, Harris urged possible migrants not to come to the U.S. as they “will continue to enforce [the] laws and secure [the] border”. She also reiterated the need for the Senate to pass the For The People Act.
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