By Jackie Salo, Emily Jacobs and Steven Nelson June 8, 2021
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday snapped at an interviewer when he pressed her on why she hasn’t visited the southern border in the 76 days since President Biden put her in charge of the record-smashing illegal immigration crisis — snarking that she hasn’t “been to Europe,” either.
“At some point, you know, we are going to the border,” a defensive Harris told NBC anchor Lester Holt on “Today” in Guatemala on her first international trip since taking office — 1,308 miles away from the southern U.S.-Mexico crossing.
“We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border,” Harris said, to which Holt replied, “You haven’t been to the border.”
Harris, seeming to laugh at her own joke, responded: “And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”
Harris’ comments come as Border Patrol continues to be overwhelmed by the crisis, which has seen the largest number of illegal immigrants since 2006 infiltrate the U.S. this fiscal year.
Nearly 900,000 migrants were stopped by Customs and Border Protection from Oct. 1 to May 31, according to preliminary data obtained by Axios on Monday.
Pressed by reporters later Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Harris “may” visit the US-Mexico border eventually as Harris’ remark drew widespread blowback.
“I think that at some point she may go to the border. We’ll see,”
Psaki said at her daily press briefing. Later, Psaki added, “If it is
constructive and it moves the ball forward for her to visit the border,
she certainly may do that.”............To Read More....
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