Kamala Harris's motorcade rolls into her LA neighborhood hours after visit to the border where she snapped at reporter and blamed Trump for the crisis
Vice President Kamala Harris flew to her Los Angeles home following her much-anticipated touchdown at the U.S.-Mexico border- 93 days after President Biden tasked her with tackling the illegal immigration crisis.
Harris' overnight stay at her LA home came a few hours after her trip to El Paso, Texas, amid intense criticism of the administration's handling of a spike in migration.
Her visit to the border came 93 days after President Biden tasked her with tackling the crisis. Her trip to Los Angeles is her fourth since taking office.
It's not clear whether Harris will visit California's border areas with Mexico while she's in the state.
Harris' most recent trip home was over Easter weekend.
Vice President Kamala Harris's motorcade is seen arriving at her Brentwood home on Friday
Vice President Kamala Harris's motorcade follows her to her Brentwood home following her much- anticipated trip to El Paso, Texas
Vice President Kamala Harris landed in Los Angeles for an overnight stay in her Brentwood home following a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border
After first announcing the trip on Wednesday, Harris arrived at El Paso airport where she was asked why she chose to only now visit the border.
'Well, it's not my first trip. I've come to the border many times,' she told reporters
'I said back in March I was going to come to the border so this is not a new plan,' she added.
Harris, accompanied by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, took a tour of the Customs and Border Protection facility in El Paso and then made a stop at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, a busy pedestrian border crossings.
Her first stop was a processing center where she met migrant girls aged nine to 15, who drew pictures for her and described their hopes for the future.
The Vice President also spoke to border guards who have been dealing with a record-breaking surge in illegal crossings since the start of the Biden administration.
'We inherited a tough situation... We have looked at a system where people have been housed in inhumane conditions over the last many years... In five months, we've made progress,' she said after meeting Gloria Chavez, Chief Patrol Agent of the El Paso border sector.
Harris' trip comes a few days before a visit to the border by former President Donald Trump, but her office has denied that Trump's upcoming visit played a part in scheduling.
Harris made her appearance in the region five days before Trump, even though the former president announced his trips eight days before Harris did hers.
Harris, 56, first blamed the Trump administration for the situation at the border an hour before saying that progress would mean removing the 'rhetoric and finger pointing' from debate.
Harris asked the border staff to show her the work they were doing and asked her about different databases
Harris speaks to border guards alongside Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (left next to her with her back turned)
A group of agents, who have been dealing with an uptick in crossings since the start of the Biden administration, share their experiences with Harris
Harris arrives to discuss border issues
Harris speaks to border officials inside the border processing center. Biden's first few months in office have seen record numbers of migrants attempting to cross the border, with more than 180,000 encounters taking place on the Mexican border in May
Harris spent about four and half hours on the ground in the Texas border city of El Paso, visiting border facilities and hearing from people on the front lines of the crisis before boarding Air Force Two and flying to Los Angeles
Her trip to El Paso (pictured today) was announced on Wednesday and appeared to have been hastily put together days before a visit to the border by former President Donald Trump
Harris watches as a border guard works on his computer in the El Paso processing center
At the end of her visit, she reflected on her conversation with girls, saying they reminded her to take the politics out of the crisis.
'We're talking about the children, we're talking about families, we're talking about suffering, and our approach has to be thoughtful and effective,' she said.
'And we can take all of these perspectives into account and have meaningful good public policy if we just stop the rhetoric and the finger pointing and do what we need to do.'
Biden's first few months in office have seen record numbers of migrants attempting to cross the border, with more than 180,000 encounters taking place on the Mexican border in May.
Even before she left Harris faced criticism for her destination. Republicans said she should have gone to the Rio Grande Valley, which is where a large majority of the crossings take place. She is also avoiding the migrant tent city at Fort Bliss, where children have to be monitored for self-harm, panic attacks and escape attempts.
Former Department of Homeland Secretary Chad Wolf said: 'While it's certainly positive that she is taking this step, I am disappointed that she is not going to the Rio Grande Valley – the very epicenter of this crisis.
'Instead, she is going to El Paso, a metropolitan area 800-1,000 miles away from the RGV. Hopefully, Harris' trip will be a working visit, not just border security tourism.'
According to Border Patrol statistics, the Rio Grande Valley has seen nearly two-and-a-half times more illegal crossings than in El Paso.
Harris is visiting the El Paso processing center during her border trip. According to Border Patrol statistics, the Rio Grande Valley has seen nearly two-and-a-half times more illegal crossings than in El Paso
Agents in the Rio Grande Valley apprehended 271,927 people, compared to 113,824 in El Paso, in May, the data says
This chart shows how 2021 border crossings - pictured in blue - rocketed on crossings made in 2020, represented by the brown line (2018 is pictured in gray, with 2019 in orange)
Agents in the Rio Grande Valley apprehended 271,927 people, compared to 113,824 in El Paso, in May, the data say.
Lora Ries, former acting DHS deputy chief of staff and now senior research fellow for Homeland Security at the Heritage Foundation, accused Harris of making a 'convenient pitstop on her trip home to California.'
'As the administration’s point person on the border crisis, she should be making a dedicated effort to visit the various border sectors and listening to agents on the ground about the challenges they face due to this administration’s policies,' she said.
'Instead, she’s just tacking on a photo-op tour to check a box. This is anything but leadership.'
Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar accused Harris of opting for a 'politically safe trip' some 800 miles from the crossings 'epicenter'.
'I'm sure her planners told her that if you're going to go down to the border, go to something that's safer to go to, that is, politically safer,' Cuellar told Fox News.
'The epicenter is down there in the Lower Rio Grande, the lower part of my district down there. If you look at the numbers that are down there compared to El Paso, you're not going to get a true picture of what's happening.'
The protesters said her trip had come 'too late' and held signs saying 'Harris for Human Trafficking'
Demonstrators waving American and MAGA flags welcome Kamala Harris to El Paso
Another demonstrator's sign said that she made the 'wrong turn' and 'this isn't Europe', referencing her comments in an interview with Lester Holt while in Guatemala earlier this month
Vice President Harris' motorcade passed pro-Trump protesters who said she had done too little, too late to address the crisis unfolding at the border with Mexico
Immigrant rights campaigners said the administration should do more to protect people arriving the country
People take part in a protest organized by Border Network For Human Rights in El Paso, Texas, as Vice President Kamala Harris visited the city. The group called for the closure of detention centers holding minors. It marked one of two dueling rallies as Republicans protested against her visit elsewhere.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended Harris and said he recommended El Paso 'because it is one of the busiest sectors' across the border 'and it provides the vice president with an opportunity to see the full array' of challenges DHS deals with 'and the great work that we do at the border.'
Former President Trump has already claimed credit for her decision to go while Republicans have preemptively hammered Harris over her border visit.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn tweeted on Friday morning: 'Vice President Harris is traveling 2000 miles today to El Paso, about 700 miles from the Rio Grande Valley, the epicenter of the crisis. Of the 2,000 mile US-Mexico border, the Texas-US border is about 1,200 miles'
'Instead, she is going to El Paso, a metropolitan area 800-1,000 miles away from the RGV. Hopefully, Harris' trip will be a working visit, not just border security tourism.'
According to Border Patrol statistics, the Rio Grande Valley has seen nearly two-and-a-half times more illegal crossings than in El Paso.
Republicans have seized on the absence of both Harris and President Joe Biden from the border to paint the administration as weak on border security, seeking to revive a potent political weapon against Democrats in time for the 2022 midterm elections.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, managing director of immigration and cross-border policy for Washington-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Center, said many Republicans have embraced the hardline immigration policies of former President Donald Trump.
Harris greets Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the steps of Air Force Two ahead of her highly anticipated trip to Texas
Republicans seized on the absence of Harris and President Biden from the border to paint the administration as weak on border security. Pictured: Harris speaks to Lt. Col Richard Hulun as she boards plane
Members of the Border Patrol Tactical Team, keep watch on the border during Harris' visit
'They believe that is something that can win them seats in 2022, so of course they're going to play it up,' she said. 'They're going to try to make it an issue.'
Campaigners have repeatedly called for the tented facility, at a U.S. Amy base just outside El Paso, to close.
Harris's team was twice asked during the run-up to the visit why she was not visiting.
'The administration is concerned by these reports and we do know that HHS has taken steps to address them,' said spokeswoman Symone Sanders a day ahead of the trip.
'This is serious for the president and the vice president, and we know it is serious and important for HHS … to ensure that the highest standards are being upheld.'
Flying in to El Paso, she told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the president and vice president had instructed Health and Human Services Secretary Javier Becerra to conduct an investigation.
He is due to visit the emergency intake site on Monday, his department announced as Harris toured a Customs and Border Protection post.
Just last month Fort Bliss held more than 4,000 children in conditions - although that has since decreased to about 2,300 - in conditions that Democratic Rep. Escobar described as 'unacceptable' after visiting.
Biden insists Kamala has done a 'GREAT JOB' at the border 'so far' ahead of her trip
Joe Biden praised Kamala Harris on Thursday for her work 'at the border' just two days ahead of her first trip there as criticism mounts over her failure to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in her first 90 days in charge of the crisis.
'Mr. President, what are you hoping the Vice President can do at the border tomorrow?' a reporter asked Biden at the end of short remarks on infrastructure followed by a press conference on Thursday.
'She's done a great job so far,' Biden said with Harris by his side as he walked halfway out of the room.
'And the reason why it's important that she go down, she's now set up the criteria – having spoken with the president of Mexico and Guatemala, visited the region – to know what we need to do,' he added.
Harris will take her first trip to survey the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico on Friday – even though she was named 'border czar' by the White House in March.
The vice president traveled to Guatemala and Mexico earlier this month to address 'root causes', but received a slew of backlash from both parties for making a joke of not yet going to the border during her trip.
Harris announced her trip on Wednesday. She will visit El Paso, Texas with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
She will beat Donald Trump to the region by five days, even though the former president announced his trips eight days before Harris did hers.
Harris on Friday will make her first trip to the border since Biden put her in charge of the crisis in March