Cornyn still says Harris was ‘Border Czar,’ even though CHC issued a fact sheet disputing claim

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is still claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris was the “Border Czar,” even though the Congressional Hispanic Caucus has issued a fact sheet disputing this claim.

Cornyn made his comments on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He said:

“Over the last three and a half years, Vice President Harris has proven she has no interest – zero interest – in stopping the alarming number of people streaming across the border, and the results speak for themselves.”

“Record number of illegal crossings, grave humanitarian conditions, dishonest accounting – this has been the reality of the Biden-Harris administration, and there can be no serious doubt that if elected President, Vice President Harris would keep these disastrous policies in place.”

“Back in 2018, then-Senator Harris was asked if she supported the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement. You may recall, this is back when our colleagues on the left, the Democratic Party, supported ‘Defund the Police.’ She went even farther and said we ought to abolish ICE.”

“That same year in a Senate hearing, she compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Ku Klux Klan. How outrageous and irresponsible is that?”

“As reports indicate, the Vice President of the United States, who was appointed the Border Czar by President Biden, has never spoken to the head of the Border Patrol, neither the current one or his predecessor. Think about that for a minute.”

“Vice President Harris has played a key role in fueling the largest immigration crisis our country has ever seen. If she was able to accomplish that much as the Vice President and Border Czar, I hate to know what kind of damage she can inflict from the Oval Office.”

Congressional Hispanic Caucus

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Last Friday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus published a fact sheet to challenge Republican claims that the Vice President was “Border Czar” for the United States.

The fact sheet disputes four GOP talking points. The four are:

False Allegation #1: President Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris as the “Border Czar”.

The Truth: Vice President Harris was NEVER appointed “Border Czar”. There has never been such a position. It doesn’t exist. In 2021, Vice President Harris was tasked with addressing root causes of migration from Central America to reduce pressure pushing migrants to embark on the dangerous journey to the U.S. 

False Allegation #2: Vice President Harris oversees day-to-day border security and immigration operations.

The Truth: Vice President Harris was NOT asked to lead on the Administration’s immigration or border enforcement policies. Border security operations are managed by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his agency, not the Vice President.

False Allegation #3: Vice President Harris has done nothing to address migration issues.

The Truth: President Biden tasked Vice President Harris to lead the Administration’s diplomatic “root causes” strategies in Central America. Her role focused on changing conditions in other countries, not the U.S. border. Vice President Harris:

• Was tasked with addressing “push” factors driving migrants to flee these countries, such as economic insecurity, corruption, crime, human rights abuses, and gender-based violence.

• Helped secure private sector investment, promoting democracy and economic opportunity.

• Secured commitments of $5 billion in private sector investments for the region. 

False Allegation #4: Vice President Harris’ diplomatic role in addressing root causes of migration in Central America has not been effective.

The Truth: In 2021, border crossing by migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador made up 41% of all border crossing. In 2023, crossings from those countries were down to 22%.

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen said he was pleased with the CHC’s response to the GOP talking points.

“We need to forge ahead with the candidate that is most likely help the people in the RGV. It’s clearly not someone who’s insulted your heritage insulted women, veterans and is following a party that in threatening Social Security and Medicare,” Gonzalez told the Rio Grande Guardian.

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