A Democratic lawmaker from Texas has called on the White House to find someone to replace Vice President Kamala Harris as "border czar" so that they can finally tackle the migrant crisis, the Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday.
According to Henry Cuellar, a representative of Texas’ 28th district, he has “moved on from the vice president to say, ‘OK, let's work with the ambassadors and let's work with the State Department, let's work with Homeland Secretary.’”
"I think that's the way to address it, but I know that the media has put a lot of focus on the vice president, but with all due respect, she was given that title. I don't think she's, with all due respect, put the effort in there… We’ve got to look at other folks that have the expertise on that," he claimed.
Since Kamala Harris’ designation as “border czar” in March, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been heavily criticized by political opponents for the unprecedented immigration surge.
They have been claiming that Biden’s tolerant approach to illegal immigration has resulted in what has been called a humanitarian crisis. Biden stopped construction of the border wall, which had resumed in some parts under the previous administration, and allowed accompanied children to stay in the US.
In early June, Harris visited Guatemala and Mexico, asking illegal migrants "not to come" to the US and later visited the US-Mexican border. However, thousands of migrants from Central America have continued to approach the US border, often fleeing poverty and crime in their home countries.
Since the beginning of October, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has recorded over 65,000 migrant encounters, which is 161 percent more in comparison with the same period last year. In total, there were more than 164,000 encounters along the US Southwest border, a 14 percent decrease compared to last month and 128 percent from the same time last year, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection.