WASHINGTON (AP) — As thousands of migrants approached the U.S. border in early 2021, President Joe Biden turned to his second-in-command to deal with the influx. The decision exposed the vice president Kamala Harris one of its biggest political liabilities.
Harris’ assignment The aim was to attack the “root causes” of migration from three Central American countries – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – which were responsible for a significant percentage of people crossing borders. The vice president took a long-term approach to an immediate problem, helping to convince multinational companies and Latin American companies to invest in the region. This, she argued, would create jobs and give residents more reason to stay home rather than make the arduous journey north.
Migration from these three Central American countries has gradually declined, although experts say it is unlikely that Harris’ plan was a major factor. The decrease was swamped by an increase in migration from other parts of Latin America, and Republicans now blame Harris for all of the myriad problems that have plagued the U.S. southern border during the administration’s tenure.
Here are some things to know about Harris’ record on migration as vice president.
She was never the “border czar”
The Republican Party and even some media outlets called Harris the “border czar” after she was given her assignment by Biden, but that was never her real job. She had no special responsibilities on the border. Those involved in the nation’s hottest issue — negotiations over whether to continue former President Donald Trump’s pandemic immigration policy, known as Title 42 — say the vice president was not involved in that debate.
Biden tasked Harris with working with Central American countries “to accept returnees and improve migration enforcement at their borders.” Some critics say it has shied away from this task and focused primarily on long-term investments.
Harris made two trips to Mexico and Central America in 2021 and 2022, including a visit to Guatemala in June 2021, where he told would-be migrants “ don’t come ”to the USA During this trip she also defended the fact she had not been to the US-Mexico border during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, saying she had not “been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t… understand what you’re saying.
That phrase became part of Trump’s first ad against Harris, who blames her for hundreds of thousands of fentanyl deaths and crimes committed by people who entered the country illegally.
Harris defended her record. His campaign began running a television ad on Friday that said Harris would “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking” as president. Democrats also criticized Trump for helping kill a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year that would have increased funding for border security, including new Customs and Border Protection officers.
Harris focused on business investments
The vice president’s most prominent achievement was tapping a network of business and nonprofit executives to invest in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, which are known as the Northern Triangle countries.
The work linked multinational companies – such as Visa, Nestlé and Meta – with small non-profit organizations and Latin American companies, all of them committed to increasing their investments or strengthening their work with at-risk communities.
The Associated Press contacted all almost two dozen companiesthe White House praised as participants in the Harris effort. Some, like Agroamerica, a sustainable food company that committed to investing more than $100 million in six new projects, reported that their work had begun and that they were on track to meet their investment goals. Others, including Columbia Sportswear Company, said they would likely exceed their goals.
Most companies, however, declined to comment or did not respond when asked about the work they had done to meet their commitments.
The vice president’s office said Harris’s outreach generated more than $5.2 billion in investment pledges. To illustrate how long it takes for promises to translate into concrete spending, the State Department reported that companies have been working almost US$1.3 billion in the region in June 2024, mostly in Guatemala and Honduras.
Katie Tobin, who worked as chief migration adviser at the National Security Council for three years, credited Harris’ focus with spurring investment in reducing these numbers, arguing that Harris “was able to leverage her credibility” and the power of the House. Branca to convince companies to invest in “a risky investment environment”.
“That was very Kamala Harris,” she added. “I’ve never seen anything like this done before in this space and it made a real impact.”
Republican Senator Rick Scott, a critic of the administration on Latin American issues, questioned whether the White House should really be credited for business investments. He argued that this would have happened without Harris.
Companies “don’t do it because someone asked them to,” said Scott, co-founder of a large medical company, “they do it because it makes economic sense.”
Did it work?
While the Harris campaign and the White House have pointed to statistics showing that migration from Northern Triangle countries has declined substantially since the start of 2021, there is debate over what is behind the decrease.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Harris and the administration deserve credit for the reduction because their efforts “worked,” adding that Harris’s input was ignored.
Independent analysts, however, said they were skeptical that Harris’s approach played a role. They stated that the decrease was probably driven by other regional factors, including the rise of the new president of El Salvador and his aggressive dynamics in combating violent crime. His government reported a 70% drop in homicides in 2023.
Julia Gelatt, associate director of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, said the investment could take years to change migration patterns — if it ever does.
“Even great economic development does not restrict immigration in the way that countries hope it will,” Gelatt said.
