Kamala Harris has gone 18 days without a news conference since being tapped for border crisis role
It was the 18th day that Harris went without holding a news conference regarding her duties on the issues, since receiving the assignment from President Biden.
On Saturday, the Washington Examiner published an article headlined, "Kamala Harris MIA on the border crisis." It recapped the vice president’s recent travels to Connecticut, California, and Illinois on matters unrelated to the migrant situation along the southern border.
The same story quoted White House press secretary Jen Psaki, reacting Wednesday to questions about when Harris would be visiting the border region.
"I’m sure it will be soon," Psaki said, according to the Examiner.
Also Saturday, NBC News published an article titled, "Confusion clouds Harris immigration role."
The NBC story argued that the White House helped create confusion by not clarifying what Harris’ specific duties would be regarding the migrant crisis.
It went on to quote White House aides, mostly anonymously, who asserted that Harris’ focus was on addressing the root causes of migration that exist in the so-called "Northern Triangle" countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – and not on the border region itself.
"The Northern Triangle, which I’m sure you’re aware of, is not the same as the border," Psaki said Wednesday, according to NBC.
The same article then said the unnamed White House aides were claiming Harris has been focused on researching migration issues and holding conversations with Latin American officials in behind-the-scenes work, rather than addressing the issue publicly.
Another unnamed official quoted in the NBC story insisted that the topic of immigration remained "a priority for her."
Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced Friday that Roberta Jacobson, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, would be stepping down as Biden's southern border coordinator at the end of the month.
After the Jacobson departure plans were disclosed, NBC claimed an unnamed "senior administration official" told the network that the Biden administration’s response to border issues would be led by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – who made his third visit to the border region last week – and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
The report added that national security adviser Jake Sullivan claimed Harris’ role would be in pursuing a broader-based "whole-of-government approach" to immigration issues, a description that NBC claimed contradicted the narrower scope for Harris that other officials had been describing.
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