Vice President Kamala Harris is receiving criticism from a top Democratic lawmaker for her comments about the status of the U.S.-Mexico border.
During an interview on āMeet the Pressā Sunday, Harris claimed that the U.S. southern border is āsecure.ā
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) commented on Harrisā claim during an appearance on Fox News.
āItās wrong. Sheās dead wrong on that. And I have said this,ā Manchin explained.
He added, āIf we donāt secure it ā I voted every time for the wall. But we need the wall and a lot more, technology, more agents.ā
Manchin suggested the ā2013 immigration bill was still the best piece of legislation I think that we have ever had before us. We couldnāt get it passed through the Republican House at that time because of some Politics involved there.ā
He continued, āAnd they ā the amnesty, people were shouting the word amnesty.ā
According to Manchin, āThat piece of legislation would have corrected everything we have going wrong. But, for anybody, the vice president, president, anybody, to say our borders are secured, that is not accurate. I have been there. Itās wrong.ā
Watch Manchinās comments below:
Harris also acknowledged during her interview that the U.S. has āa broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed.ā
Host Chuck Todd did not let Harris off the hook that easy.
He asked, āWeāre going to have two million people cross this border for the first time ever. Youāre confident this borderās secure?ā
She replied, āWe have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration.ā
The vice president added, āBut there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix given the deterioration that happened over the last four years. We also have to put into place a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for the millions of people who are here and are prepared to do what is legally required to gain citizenship.ā
Harris told Todd āwe donāt have that in place because people are playing Politics in a state like this and in Congress.ā
She continued, āBy the way, you want to talk about bipartisanship on an issue that at one time was a bipartisan issue both in terms of Republican senators and even presidents.ā
Earlier this month, CNN reported that close to 750 migrants have lost their lives at the southern border this fiscal year.
Additionally, Border Patrol made more than 181,000 arrests at the border in July, as the outlet noted.
