Connect with us

Daily Caller

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

Published

10 months ago

8 minute read

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)

Related Topics:

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

More from this author
Crime / 5 hours ago

Manhunt on for suspect in shooting deaths of Minnesota House speaker, husband

Canadian Energy Centre / 5 hours ago

Cross-Canada economic benefits of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project

Alberta / 5 hours ago

Albertans need clarity on prime minister’s incoherent energy policy

Daily Caller

LA Anti-ICE Chaos, Clashes With Police Spreading Around America

Published on June 11, 2025

By

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hudson Crozier

The unrest that has consumed Los Angeles in recent days appears to be spreading elsewhere as numerous rioters outraged at immigration raids were arrested across the country on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles authorities began making “mass arrests” late Tuesday and issued a curfew following days of rioting sparked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants in the area. Businesses were seen in the process of boarding up their buildings in anticipation of possible looting, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

Local media outlets reported that major U.S. cities saw their own versions of Los Angeles’ chaos Tuesday night, with alleged assaults of police officers, fires, rock-throwing and other acts of violence. Protests and resulting arrests had already started to spread beyond Los Angeles as of Monday night.

Seattle

At least two people were arrested after protesters tore down American flags at a federal building in Seattle and burned them on Tuesday night, according to multiple reports. Earlier that day, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers were seen on video shoving back Antifa-style militants and firing crowd control munitions after the activists tried to block entrances and exits to the building, which houses an immigration court.

New York City

Eighty-six people were arrested overnight starting on Tuesday evening as protesters marched to a Manhattan immigration court and other locations, local outlet ABC7 reported. Police said people threw bottles at protesters and debris and traffic cones onto the road. Charges included assault, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment and obstructing government administration.

One exchange caught on video showed a woman pleading with protesters to let her drive past them on the road so she could go to work.

Illegal migrants “are having their children taken and their parents,” a traffic-blocking activist told the driver.

Another video posted by Sky News showed a mob trying to force its way past a wall of officers while screaming.

Denver

Protesters began gathering at the Colorado State Capitol building in Denver on Tuesday before moving off in a crowd to block traffic on two streets, Colorado Newsline reported. Police ended up in confrontations with rioters throughout the evening, arresting at least 17 on charges such as obstruction of streets, graffiti, assaulting a peace officer and unlawful throwing of projectiles, according to 9News. Police were reportedly seen throwing smoke bombs and pepper balls to disperse crowds.

Atlanta

Organizers of an anti-ICE rally in Atlanta on Tuesday night had agreed to disperse by 9 p.m., but some protesters remained and set off scuffles with police, a local Fox network reported. Rioters damaged three police squad cars by throwing rocks, police said, and threw fireworks at officers. Police used tear gas to disperse the agitators and arrested at least six.

Continue Reading

Crime

LA Mayor Karen Bass Makes New Demands Of Trump At Monday Night Press Conference

Published on June 10, 2025

By

 

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Mariane Angela

During a Monday night press briefing, Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told the Trump administration to stop the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles.

President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles on Saturday after riots erupted following an ICE raid at a Home Depot. During Monday’s press briefing, Bass called for an end to the raids conducted by the Trump administration, claiming that the power to deploy troops or request assistance should lie with state and local officials, not the federal government.

“I would say stop the raids. Stop the raids, period. I would say give the power back to our governor, and if we need the National Guard, we can do it in the normal circumstances, which is the request is made local, and the governor decides, or not to, grant that to our city,” Bass said when asked what she would say to the Trump administration.

Bass reiterated her earlier stance and questioned the need for an additional military presence, given the National Guard’s current role in securing federal buildings.

WATCH:

“We didn’t need the National Guard. Why on earth? What are they going to do? Do you know what the National Guard is doing now? They are guarding two buildings,” Bass said when asked to react to the deployment of Marines.

Bass then called the deployment an unjustified and overreaching action.

“They are guarding the federal building here in downtown, and they’re guarding the federal building in Westwood. That’s what they’re doing. So they need Marines on top of it? I don’t understand that. That’s why I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of,” Bass added.

Despite Bass claiming that the National Guard’s deployment was unnecessary, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared videos showing ICE agents in one of the vehicles being struck by rocks. Melugin also posted additional footage and photos of the aftermath, including an image of an ICE agent’s injury and a windshield damaged by a rioter’s rock.

Around 1,000 individuals wreaked havoc in Los Angeles Friday night, surrounding a federal building, attacking ICE agents, deflating tires and vandalizing government property, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The unrest caused significant damage and severe traffic disruptions, bringing several key city roads to a complete standstill.

On Saturday night, Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard to assist local law enforcement and warned Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the federal government would intervene if local authorities failed to restore order.

In response, California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday, challenging the deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to address the immigration riots. Attorney General Rob Bonta and Newsom said that federalizing 2,000 California National Guard members without Newsom’s consent exceeded the president’s authority.

Continue Reading

Trending

X