WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, watching tens of thousands of migrants from Central America reach the U.S.-Mexico border just a few months into his administration, tapped his second-in-command to help address the influx—a decision that has exposed Vice President Kamala Harris to one of her biggest political liabilities.
In grappling with migration, Harris proceeded cautiously. She focused her time and prestige on boosting private investment in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, the so-called Northern Triangle; her goal was to help create jobs to bolster economies and dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to the United States.
It was a decidedly long-term—and limited—approach to a humanitarian crisis, and it has allowed Republicans to tie her to the broader fight over the border. While migration from the Northern Triangle ebbed, it surged from other nations, sparking an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, one that Republicans have aggressively sought to exploit at Harris’ expense.
A review of Harris’ work on immigration reveals a record that is more nuanced than the one presented by her critics or allies. It also provides insights into how Harris—who took over as the Democratic standard-bearer when Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month—might tackle one of the nation’s most vexing concerns.
Harris was never the “border czar,” or put in charge of border security or halting illegal border crossings, as former President Donald Trump, Republicans and even the occasional media outlet have claimed. Instead, she was tasked in March 2021 with tackling the “root causes” of migration from the Northern Triangle and pushing its leaders—along with Mexico’s—to enforce immigration laws, administration officials said.
Harris’ backers say she demonstrated leadership by leveraging her stature to win investments that might curb migration years down the road.
“She felt—and I think she was right—that what she could do the most was help basically lead the effort to draw in investment, using the confidence that a relationship with the White House would give to investors,” said Ricardo Zúniga, a former State Department official who specialized in the Northern Triangle and who traveled