Six weeks into new role, Harris has yet to visit border, hold immigration-related press conference

It has been more than six weeks since President Joe Biden tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with tackling the diplomatic issues impacting a surge in immigration along the nation’s southern border.

As of Wednesday, however, she had earned the dubious distinction of effectively ignoring the ongoing crisis for 43 days straight.

“Root causes”

According to Fox News, Harris, who was chosen to respond to the emergency in March, has still declined to visit the border or hold a single press conference devoted to the issue.

Republican critics have been hammering her on her absence from the border for weeks, but she appears to be in no hurry to alter her behavior.

Harris has invited more scrutiny by traveling around the country to promote Biden’s agenda while strategically avoiding the U.S.-Mexico border. Her unusual approach has led to speculation surrounding what she is doing, if anything, to respond to a dramatic uptick in migration since Biden was inaugurated.

The administration’s talking points have generally focused on downplaying the crisis itself while blaming former President Donald Trump whenever possible. For her part, Harris has focused on the “root causes” of the immigration surge, notably poverty, crime, and extreme weather across Central America.

In remarks this week, she vowed to tackle each of these issues as part of her response to the issue.

“Created by Biden”

“When you look at the root causes, we’re also looking at issues of corruption,” she asserted. “Again, we’re looking at the issue of climate resiliency and then the concern about a lack of economic opportunity.”

Critics argue that Biden and Harris are unwilling to acknowledge, and therefore unable to confront, a crisis that has largely been caused by their own policies.

GOP leaders have increasingly implored the White House to reinstate Trump-era immigration rules that were widely rescinded or reversed in the earliest days of the current administration.

The vice president visited Rhode Island on Wednesday, leading Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to insist that she needs to “put Americans first and visit the Texas-Mexico border” to witness firsthand “a crisis created by Biden.”

While her critics can confront her all they like, it seems that Harris continues to pay them little mind.

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