The vice president, Kamala Harris, sent a contradictory message to the migrant community on Thursday in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, after her controversial "don't come" call directed at Central Americans who continue to arrive at the border in record numbers.
"Throughout my career I have advocated that people who are escaping from danger are not returned. I remain committed to that. Nothing has changed," Harris told journalist José Díaz Balart.
"The United States has to be a safe haven"
for "those seeking protection," the vice president added just three days after discouraging future asylum seekers during a brief tour of Guatemala and Mexico, where she warned that the United States "will continue to do so. complying with the laws and protecting the border "and that" there are legal methods by which legal migration can and should occur. "
The comments by Harris - Joe Biden's administration manager for dealing with the immigration crisis - were inflammatory to progressive politicians, migrant rights advocates and voices within the Hispanic community itself.
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His tour was focused, as he has reiterated, tackling the so-called root causes of migration, such as the economic effects of natural disasters, violence and government corruption.
"We want to make sure that whatever resources we contribute to that region end up in the hands of the people who should receive them, and not in the dirty hands of the corrupt," Harris told Díaz Balart when asked how he would combat one of the evils. most reported by asylum seekers in their countries of origin.
"People who emigrate, who come to the United States, do so for a variety of reasons and we have to understand that immigrants are not a monolith," he added, "we have to observe and understand them, and then solve the problems."
"One of the reasons I took this trip is because if you want to understand why people do what they do, you have to spend time with them," he concluded.
However, the vice president has been criticized again this week, following an interview on NBC News, for not having visited the southern border in the more than three months since Biden appointed her to solve the immigration crisis because "no one is better qualified. than her to do it. "
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Asked by Díaz-Balart about the responsibility of the United States in creating instability in the region throughout history, generating some of the causes that drive migrants to escape, Harris replied: "I will never suggest that we should not remember history. , but to continue forward we have to understand that we are neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. The world is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, and with that what I mean is that,
what happens in that region - specifically in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador— affects what happens in the United States and vice versa
”.
Illegal crossings have grown steadily since April 2020, after then-President Donald Trump hid behind the restrictions associated with the pandemic to deny most migrants the possibility of requesting asylum.
The trend has accelerated further under Biden, who quickly repealed many of those tougher border policies.
In May alone, Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 180,000 apprehensions at the border, a record for the third month in a row.
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But one of those that remains in place is the so-called Title 42, under which the United States continues to expel thousands of adult asylum seekers claiming that migrants are a danger to public health, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked if Title 42 will continue to be a cornerstone of Washington's immigration policy, Harris said, "The world is still in the midst of the pandemic" but "
Title 42 was never intended to be permanent."
The vice president also assured that the United States will create mechanisms in the region so that asylum seekers can request immigration help from their countries and do not venture into the danger of traveling to the border, something that the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, mentioned earlier. four months, but has not made visible progress.
"Progress has been made," defended Harris, "we have established the first migrant resource center in Guatemala so that people can be processed within the country."
And "more are on the way," he added.
The last question the vice president answered was related to the drastic slowdown in vaccination against COVID-19 in the United States, which is estimated to violate Biden's objective of having 70% of adults vaccinated before July 4.
"The vaccine will save your life," he said.
"Each individual has the power to get their vaccine. It's free. Let's not let anyone take that power away from us."
