'Wrong part of the border' GOP criticizes VP's Texas trip
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Republicans criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’s upcoming trip to the Texas border, arguing she’ll be nowhere near the towns most overwhelmed with an influx of illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico.
“She’s going to the wrong part of the border,” former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Wednesday in an interview with WMAL in Washington, D.C.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, brought a large display of the Lone Star State to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon that read, “Someone needs a map.”
The chart showed Harris’s destination of El Paso, which is located on the west Texas border with Mexico but is nowhere near the southern border.
In fact, El Paso is 1,000 miles from the Rio Grande Valley sector, where Republicans say the vast majority of border crossings are occurring, particularly among children and families.
“The reality of the situation is we are nearing a breaking point, and the vice president and president could see that if they are only willing to join me and others who would be more than happy to host them by visiting the Rio Grande Valley,” Cornyn said Wednesday.
Republicans have been critical of the Biden administration and Harris, particularly for refusing to visit the border amid a massive surge in illegal immigration that has left U.S. immigration officials overwhelmed.
The White House announced earlier this week Harris will visit El Paso on Friday. El Paso is considered one of the busiest crossing points for illegal immigrants. However, the Rio Grande Valley is far more overwhelmed with more than double the number of illegal crossings.
Harris’s trip follows criticism from Republicans and Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar who urged her to visit the border after Biden appointed her to lead the administration’s effort to resolve the crisis.
Cuellar sent Harris a letter last week asking her to visit the U.S. southern border “to observe the ongoing humanitarian crisis and share the perspective of Americans who live there.”
Earlier this month, Harris traveled to Guatemala and Mexico to address the reasons immigrants are traveling to the U.S.
Republicans accused Harris of making the trip only after former President Donald Trump announced his intention to visit the border next week.
Border Patrol officials are flying some illegal immigrants from the Rio Grande Valley sector to El Paso for processing and, in some cases, walking them over the border back into Mexico.
Washington Examiner Videos
Tags: News, Congress, Kamala Harris, Border, John Cornyn
Original Author: Susan Ferrechio
Original Location:
