As soon as Vice President Kamala Harris took over the mantle from President Joe Biden, her biggest supporters began throwing cold water on her status and responsibility as the administration’s “border czar.”
One of the first high-profile jobs Harris received was to address the root causes of surging illegal immigration and to use diplomatic channels to work with countries in Central America where many migrants were coming from. She was never given the title “border czar” by the president, but the shorthand was used regularly by media outlets online and on the air.
Now that she is heading toward being the Democratic Party’s candidate to face off against former President Donald Trump in November, however, criticism of her failure to stem the tide of illegal border crossings and her delay in visiting the southern border are complicating her future. Several media outlets have walked back reporting they did referring to Harris as the “border czar,” and editors are trading barbs updating the reference to the unofficial position on Wikipedia.
Several notes and comments have been made toward the title on a page listing U.S. executive branch czars. At one point, Harris was deleted from the list entirely.
Harris’s deletion prompted an uproar from users, and her name was placed back on the list with several citations attached to it. One user proclaimed, “This is literal propaganda and revisionism,” in response to her removal.
Another said: “Wikipedia’s editors once again showing utter contempt of history itself and an embrace of Orwellianism. Axios and numerous other main stream media outlets reported Harris was designated the Border Czar. Biden himself said it. This is utterly ridiculous revisionist nonsense designed to play into the political left’s whitewashing of Harris record.”
The debate provides insight into some of the public’s views on whether Harris was named “border czar.” The Harris campaign disputes that she ever had such a title.
What is not in dispute is that Harris was placed in charge of migration from Central America, according to a White House press release in 2021.
“Since March, Vice President Kamala Harris has been leading the Administration’s diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras,” it said. “She has worked with bilateral, multilateral, and private sector partners, as well as civil society leaders, to help people from the region find hope at home. “
Harris is being tied to all of the administration’s successes and failures, and Republicans are especially interested in dinging her record on border security — one of the top issues voters say they are concerned about in 2024.
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If Republicans can reinforce Harris’s “border czar” label, they may have a powerful attack tool to use this election cycle. A 2024 poll showed 78% of respondents believed the influx of migrants into the country was a “crisis” or a “major problem.”
The Make America Great Again Inc. super PAC recently poured $32 million into attacking Harris on the border and for her record as a prosecutor.
