Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has derided the president's move to appoint Vice-President Kamala Harris as the leading administration official to oversee the crisis at the southern border as the “worst possible choice” Joe Biden could have made.
“At no point in her career has [Harris] given any indication that she considers the border a problem or a serious threat. If President Biden's intent was to show that he's taking this issue seriously […] he's really done the exact opposite,” Ducey, a Republican, asserted on Wednesday.
The remarks came shortly after Biden touted Harris as “the most qualified person” to lead his administration’s efforts to tackle a record surge in migrants, including unaccompanied minors, at the southern border.
"This new surge we’re dealing with now started with the last administration, but it’s our responsibility to deal with it humanely and to stop what’s happening. This increase has been consequential, but the vice-president’s agreed – among the multiple other things I have her leading and I appreciate it – agreed to lead our diplomatic effort and work with those nations to accept the returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders,” the US president stated.
The developments come after Harris was slammed for appearing to laugh when asked by a reporter if she was planning to visit the US-Mexico border amid the intensifying migrant crisis.
Neither Biden nor Harris have made a trip to the southern border since the crisis emerged. However, they have indicated they plan to visit at “some point”.
Late last year, then-President-elect Joe Biden pledged to create "a fair and humane immigration system" in America, vowing help in tackling the causes of immigration that prompt people from Latin America to move to the US.