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Daily Caller

Harris Took The Reins On Solving A Key Region’s Migrant Crisis — Nearly 1.8 Million People Crossed Into US Anyway

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

 

Over a million migrants hailing from Central America have crossed illegally into the U.S. since Vice President Kamala Harris was tapped to address the illegal immigration crisis stemming from that region.

Since the launch of her presidential campaign, Harris and her allies have vehemently pushed back on the narrative that she was appointed to serve as “border czar” for the White House, arguing that she was only given a limited role addressing the “root causes” of illegal migration stemming from Central America. However, roughly 1.7 million people from the Northern Triangle region, which includes El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, flooded into the U.S. after she was tasked with mitigating the crisis.

“It’s total chaos on the border, and has been for the last three and a half years,” retired Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott said about the current border situation to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “America is put at risk for no good reason and they’re being sold a bill of goods that’s just not true.”

Border Patrol agents deployed along the southern border encountered a total of 1,739,795 migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras attempting to cross illegally into the country between April 2021 — Harris’ first full month serving as “border czar” — and June 2024, according to a review of the latest available data by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“I’ve asked her, the VP, today — because she’s the most qualified person to do it — to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border,” Biden publicly declared on March 24, 2021.

The president added that there was nobody “better qualified” to handle the task and said she wouldn’t have to check in with him because she “knows what she’s doing.”

“But — so, Madam Vice President, thank you. I gave you a tough job, and you’re smiling, but there’s no one better capable of trying to organize this for us,” Biden continued.

Since that speech was given, 253,027 illegal migrants from El Salvador, 798,678 illegal migrants from Guatemala and 688,090 illegal migrants from Honduras have descended on the U.S.-Mexico border — totaling the more than 1.7 million encounters, according to CBP data. The numbers under Harris’ “border czar” tenure surpass the roughly 1,098,000 Border Patrol apprehensions of these three nationalities seen under the Trump administration from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020, according to past CBP data.

What further exacerbated the immigration crisis under the Biden-Harris administration was the influx of other foreign nationals who have used Central America as a way station en route to the U.S. border — most notably Venezuelans. While non-Central Americans did not technically fall under the vice president’s purview, the lack of border enforcement in the region has skyrocketed the U.S. asylum crisis.

Less than 50,000 Venezuelan nationals were encountered by Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2021, according to CBP data. That number blew up to more than 187,000 in fiscal year 2022 and peaked at more than 200,600 in fiscal year 2023.

Venezuelans are far from the only ones crossing the Central American region in their journey to illegally enter the U.S. More than half a million U.S.-bound migrants crossed the Darien Gap —  a dense jungle that spans across the border of Panama and Colombia — in 2023 alone, according to the Council on Foreign Relations

Illegal border crossings from other nationalities have also exploded under Harris’ “border czar” tenure.

There were less than 2,000 encounters with Chinese nationals at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, according to CBP Data. That figure exploded to over 24,000 in fiscal year 2023 and has already surpassed 33,000 this fiscal year, despite the year not yet over.

Similar spikes in illegal southern border crossings took place under the Biden-Harris administration by Indians, Turks, Nicaraguans, Russians and other nationalities.

Republicans have long hammered Harris for allegedly not taking the border crisis seriously, and recently released surveys indicate that most Americans believe her to be supportive of “open borders.”

For her part, Harris did visit Central America in June 2021 and warned would-be illegal migrants: “Do not come. Do not come.” She also visited the U.S.-Mexico border once in June 2021 after facing mounting pressure to do so.

Since Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest and Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, she has attempted to cast herself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor who would govern with border hawk tendencies. Her campaign has released two different advertisements claiming she would “fix” the border crisis and hire more Border Patrol agents.

Harris previously supported decriminalizing illegal border crossings, but the latest statements from her campaign suggest she has completely flipped on the position. It’s also not immediately clear if her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, remains a supporter of sanctuary city policies.

“The truth is, Vice President Kamala Harris has always been for open borders. She can’t run from that,” said Joey Chester, communications manager for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, in a statement to the DCNF.

Chester listed Harris’ past opposition for a border wall, rejection of more funding for Border Patrol agents and detention beds and past support for DACA beneficiaries to be compensated as congressional employees as reasons to be suspect of her current pivot to the right on border enforcement.

“These policies have proven disastrous and are deeply unpopular with the American people,” he added. “Words can’t change the fact that the current state of America’s borders, and the influx of illegal aliens in the United States today, is the doing of President Biden and Vice President Harris.”

The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.

(Featured Image Media Credit: Flickr/Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Daily Caller

Los Angeles Passes ‘Sanctuary City’ Ordinance In Wake Of Trump’s Deportation Plan

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Jason Hopkins

The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday designating the city as a “sanctuary city” following President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.

This measure prevents the use of local resources for immigration enforcement and prohibits city agencies from sharing information about undocumented residents with federal immigration authorities, according to The Associated Press. The council voted unanimously, aligning Los Angeles with numerous cities across the U.S. that have adopted similar policies.

The ordinance will undergo a second council vote for procedural reasons as Mayor Karen Bass, who has expressed support for the initiative, holds veto power but is unlikely to use it, AP reported. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez pointed out the city’s firm stance against cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“We’re going to send a very clear message that the city of Los Angeles will not cooperate with ICE in any way,” Soto-Martinez said. “We want people to feel protected and be able to have faith in their government and that women can report domestic violence crimes.”

Soto-Martinez also noted that many immigrants without legal status are integral to the community, working in roles such as housekeepers, nannies, and cooks, AP reported. While the ordinance highlights the city’s values, critics argue that Los Angeles already refrains from cooperating with federal immigration agencies, suggesting the policy may not bring significant operational changes.

Trump announced that former acting ICE Director Tom Homan will take on the role of border czar in his upcoming administration. Homan will oversee border operations, including deportations, security at land and sea entry points, and aviation safety measures.

Trump revealed Monday that he plans to declare a national emergency and deploy military resources to execute his mass deportation agenda. He confirmed reports from Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, who claimed the administration is ready to use emergency powers to address what he called the “Biden invasion.”

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Daily Caller

“I know three families that have gone to Canada.”: Locals Say Haitians Are Hoofing It Out Of Springfield After Trump Win

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Jason Hopkins

‘They Are Afraid’

Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio appear to be fleeing the city in droves after President-elect Donald Trump was declared the winner of the election, according to reports from locals.

The national spotlight shined on Springfield, a city of roughly 60,000 residents nestled in central Ohio, for weeks following unverified viral online claims that Haitians migrants had been spotted butchering a pet for consumption. The subsequent uproar about Springfield sparked further media debate about mass migration and its consequences, as Springfield has been dealing with an influx of Haitian migrants in a relatively short amount of time.

“The traffic situation seems to be better now,” longtime resident Barron Seelig said to the Daily Caller News Foundation, referring to widespread accounts from city residents in past months that Haitian drivers are causing mayhem on the roads.

While Seelig did speak about local rumors of impending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids possibly scaring Haitians away, he also mentioned recent crackdowns by highway patrol officers and added that some migrants are leaving because they don’t enjoy the Ohio winters. Another Springfield local told the DCNF that he heard it was virtually impossible to rent a U-Haul truck because so many Haitians are currently renting them — presumably to leave town.

Those who provide services to immigrant services in the city have also said that Trump’s election victory has prompted Haitians to flee en masse.

“Some folks don’t have credit cards or access to the internet, and they want to buy a bus ticket or a plane ticket, so we help them book a flight,” Margery Koveleski, who helps Haitian migrants manage government bureaucracy, told The Guardian. “People are leaving.”

“People are fully aware of the election result, and that is why they are leaving; they are afraid of a mass deportation” Jason Payen, a co-founder of the Haitian Community Alliance, said to the Guardian.

“Several of my customers have left. One guy with his family went to New Jersey; others have gone to Boston,” Payen continued. “I know three families that have gone to Canada.”

Trump, for his part, has vowed to embark on a border enforcement agenda that will apply to the entire country.

During the campaign, Trump pledged to continue building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, revive the Remain in Mexico program, hire more border patrol agents and conduct the “largest deportation program in American history,” and end birthright citizenship for those born on U.S. soil to illegal migrant parents.

Trump said in October that he would revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals and “bring them back” to the country. The Biden-Harris administration has provided TPS — which temporarily gives deportation protections to its designees — to hundreds of thousands of Haitian nationals currently living in the U.S.

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