Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre point-blank on Monday how long Vice President Kamala Harris has thought President Joe Biden has done a bad job handling the border crisis.
Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on Harris’ campaign promise to increase the number of border agents to mitigate the flow of migrants illegally entering the U.S. The vice president, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in March 2021 to address “root causes” of migration in Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries, has flip-flopped on her positions regarding illegal immigration throughout her time in the administration and as a U.S. senator.
“How long have you guys known that Vice President Kamala Harris does not think President Biden is doing a good job at the border?” Doocy asked, followed by Jean-Pierre asking him to repeat the question. “Well, she’s now promising to hire thousands more border agents than there are now under President Biden.”
Jean-Pierre accused Doocy of interpreting Harris’ beliefs, and accused congressional Republicans and Republican nominee Donald Trump of “getting in the way” of adding more agents to the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The president does want more Border Patrol agents,” Jean-Pierre said. “You know who’s getting in the way? Republicans in Congress. They’re getting in the way. You know who else is getting in the way? The former president, Donald Trump. He’s getting in the way. I mean, there’s no daylight here. I’m not getting the question because there’s no daylight. The president believes that as well and he’s worked toward doing that.”
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Jean-Pierre referenced the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which intended allocate funds toward hiring more Border Patrol agents and immigration judges to expedite the immigration process. The legislation also intended to remove foreign nationals who enter the U.S. illegally once a week-long average of entrants exceeded 5,000 persons a day.
Senate Republicans blocked the advancement of the bill in a 49-50 vote on Feb. 7. House Speaker Mike Johnson warned the legislation would be “dead on arrival” in the House.
The Harris campaign has released a slew of ads claiming the vice president intends to increase border security and mitigate the crisis. One ad released in July claims Harris supports increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, implementing new technology to block drugs from entering the U.S. and spending more money to stop human traffickers.
Retired Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott, who led the agency while Harris served as “border czar,” told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Aug. 8 that the vice president never once spoke to him.
Scott also told the DCNF that the Biden-Harris administration “redirected millions and millions” from enforcement operations in order to process more illegal immigrants into the U.S., and accused the administration of redirecting taxpayer resources to NGOs in order to fly more illegal immigrants to “wherever they want to go” instead of prioritizing enforcement.
NumbersUSA, an organization supporting more “sensible immigration,” awarded Harris an F- rating for her support of a number of bills that it says would have weakened border security.
As senator, Harris compared Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to the Ku Klux Klan in 2018 and suggested the agency should be abolished. She further expressed support for granting healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants in 2020.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/White House press briefing)
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