Last week, it was announced that Vice President Kamala Harris would undertake her first solo international trip. Instead of giving VP Harris a softer mission for her first trip – like, say, shoring up a historic alliance with Canada, or even sending her to India to highlight a number of economic issues – Harris was given the rotten task of trying to do something about the thousands of de facto refugees attempting to cross the border. The Trump administration left the Biden administration an absolute immigration/border catastrophe and the Biden administration is still picking up the pieces. All VP Harris’s trip will do is piss people off on both sides of the aisle. Speaking of, Harris has pissed off the Democratic caucus because she told Guatemalans “do not come” to the US.
During her first foreign trip as vice president, Kamala Harris said the United States would bolster investigations into corruption and human trafficking in Guatemala, while also delivering a clear, blunt message to undocumented migrants hoping to reach the United States: “Do not come.”
Ms. Harris issued the warning during a trip that was an early yet pivotal test for a vice president currently tasked with the complex challenge of breaking a cycle of migration from Central America by investing in a region plagued by corruption, violence and poverty.
While President Biden campaigned on unwinding some of the Trump administration’s border restrictions, allowing migrants to apply for asylum at the U.S. border, Ms. Harris amplified the White House’s current stance that most of those who crossed the border would be turned away and would instead need to find legal pathways or protection closer to their home countries.
She did not shy away from brusque language when it came to discussing corruption with the Guatemalan president, Alejandro Giammattei, who has been criticized for having a political agenda and for persecuting officials who fight corruption. Ms. Harris, whose own aspirations to the presidency are clear, was tapped by Mr. Biden to invest in Central America to discourage the vulnerable from making the dangerous journey north. Mr. Biden has faced criticism from Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the early months of his term for the soaring number of crossings of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Part of me knows that Biden tapped Harris for this political hot potato because he knows she can handle it. But another part of me is like, well, this is a political hazing. Everyone’s mad at her now. Democrats are mad that she’s echoing the Biden administration’s “hard line” that migrants will be turned away and that they should not try to escape the horrendous conditions they face in their home countries. Republicans are mad because apparently VP Harris refuses to do a photo-op at the border?? I don’t even get this. Lestor Holt asked her why she hasn’t physically been to the border… why would she? Ugh.
“We have to deal with what's happening at the border.”@VP Kamala Harris spoke exclusively with @LesterHoltNBC on her first trip overseas, how the administration is addressing the immigration crisis, and if she plans to visit the southern border herself. pic.twitter.com/sA4We7peeR
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 8, 2021
But but but the GOP–bolstered by Lester Holt's talking points–insist that the problem is VP Harris not going to the border. https://t.co/EnatNcQAWR
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) June 8, 2021
Photos courtesy of Getty.
LOL @ her ambitions are clear. Well she did run and was briefly the top contender so yeah it’s not a state secret or anything. But I absolutely cringed at this story yesterday. She’s just speaking the cold hard facts yet we’ve become a nation that craves simplistic and upbeat rhetoric. If only she could have said don’t come but America’s the greatest nation and keep your dreams alive. Yada yada land of opportunity but don’t come. Plus red white and blue sparklers.
She’s a guest in a country that has been damaged by American policy (just google “CIA activity in Guatemala” for starters). This is the first time she’s gone there. To stand up at a podium and harshly declare that guatemaltecos should not even try it, that they’ll be turned back, was rude and insulting and hurtful.
There were other ways to get this message across. VP Harris did poorly here. I think it is particularly hurtful coming from a woman whose family migrated to this country. She’s of migrant heritage and a woman of color to boot. But she stands up and coldly makes this declaration while a guest in their country?
What she said is true (they will get turned back) but how she said it, when she said it, and where she said it showed that she lacks intercultural competence at worst and, as the daughter of immigrants, a sense of irony, at best.
Not good, not good at all.
I don’t understand how the timing was out of place (when/where she said it). This wasn’t a social call, it wasn’t a state dinner. She’s down there to work on the crisis. This was a meeting to address migration, why should she not speak about it?
Vice president Harris is a public servent who educated herself and has served the public for years yet shes still regarded as a guest and not someone contributing to our country? That wording is inappropriate
I believe she was saying that VP Harris was a guest in Guatemala, not the US.
Agreed. The US has been destabilizing Guatemala since the 50s. If this trip is to signal new diplomatic relations between the countries it’s very clumsy and insensitive. The US is also STILL heavily involved in South America. “Don’t come here, but we’re still going to run special ops in your region” is a really irritating message. The rest of the trip was about stationing US military in the north and having them train Guatemalan police. Pretty sure that happened in the 70s and it didnt end well!
The border is a difficult situation, but the migrants are being treated horribly, even under Biden. I also don’t see why asking why she hasn’t been to the border is rude if her admin promised a departure from previous presidents.
Handling of immigration and border issues is actually one of the areas that Biden’s administration continues to poll lowest at. I think Harris’s statements are in direct reaction to the fact that the American people continue to perceive (however incorrectly) that this administration is weak in that area.
People who only read the headlines are mad at her. If people actually listened to the entirety of her speech or read the extensive readout on the policy, they’d know that that statement came after she discussed corruption and instability making Guatemala unsafe for families. The statement came after concerns for unaccompanied minors, for mothers and their children, for fathers. That they were being abused and killed on the journey to the states. It’s not about we don’t want you here. It’s about improving conditions in their home countries for them to stay and making the trek an easier, safer trip for all involved. VP Harris can handle it. She isn’t holding back on her criticisms or the US’ desire to make immigration a safe option for people.
Many people who leave Guatemala in search of asylum in the US aren’t fleeing the government, they are fleeing criminal gangs that control many parts of the country and operate with total impunity. Extortion, forced recruitment, and rape are a daily part of many Guatemalan’s lives. The government has no control over these gangs, and no interest in controlling them. No amount of discussion about corruption will change the situation on the ground for millions of Guatemalans.
Nope.
I get it that there is a lot of lost nuance in the limited message and I understand that she had more to say than just this sound bite. But that part of her speech was not well-considered and it demonstrated a stunning lack of diplomacy. There were other ways to get this message across; the way she delivered it was incorrect.
The GOP is going to criticize Harris where ever she goes! This is the usual and empty complaints from the Repugnant’s!
This is a terrible situation. America should be letting loads of people in. We have room in the country and our hearts.
It is a terrible situation, but can you imagine the backlash had she said encouraging words about coming to the U.S.?
Astrid, I really like you said that and I remember the USA being a lovely country (I lived in the States 2 decades ago) but maybe you are in the minority now?
As a foreigner myself, who is white and didn’t escape war, I feel the hostility against people like me locally in northern England is staggering. I’ve attempted suicide twice after the Brexit referendum.
I cannot even imagine how I would feel as a PoC or a refugee!
To be honest, things have gone this way but I would have welcomed the advice of never setting foot in UK before moving here, given that I wasn’t fleeing war. It’s true that Guatemalans are in a different situation but I don’t see what Harris said as something bad.
AlpineWitch I’m really sorry to hear what you’ve been through in this country. The UK showed its disgusting underbelly when it voted Brexit. I don’t know your ethnicity or background. My experience of how things changed after Brexit is through my eastern European friends, who found they were treated even worse after the vote. I’ve asked you a question further down the thread and would be interested in your answer. Thank you.
Hey @alpinewitch thank you for sharing the reality of living in xenophobic UK. I’m so sorry it’s gotten you down enough to attempt suicide.
Love from someone who gets it
Yes, I’m probably in the minority. I came to America as a child back in the 70’s. This was huge for our family. I’m saddened that immigration policy forces America to turn their back on so many desperate people.
This is what the left means when they say the liberals and republicans are the same. They are obviously not the same, but liberals have sold a vision of social change that they don’t actually follow through on. They wear social justice when it’s convenient for them, and might pass a stray piece of socially meaningful legislation when interests converge, but that’s all we get. Anyways end the filibuster.
I love this comment.
Anyone who believes liberals and conservatives are the same is a fool. Full stop.
Have any of you actually bothered to read the full policies? Go do that. Then get back to me on how they are “the same” as the GOP’s policies.
Seeking Asylum is completely legal in America and to have the Vice President of The United States go to an unstable country, stand on a podium and tell its citizens ‘not to come’ and if they do, they’ll be turned away is ignorant, undiplomatic and frankly very gross. I’ll say it again: seeking asylum is completely legal in the US.
But is it safe and realistic at this period in time? This is what I was saying above about a love of upbeat rhetoric versus cold hard truths.
Seeking asylum is completely legal in UK too but the majority of asylum seekers get tortured and sent to prison (because an immigration detention centre is effectively a prison except by name) with many dying before their claims are granted or rejected – google Napier Barracks.
I prefer Harris’s bluntness to the callous way we treat the immigrants in UK, without even mentioning that our Home Secretary wanted to segregate them on an island in the middle of the Atlantic.
How do you mean “tortured”? Genuine interest. Thanks
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The message is harsh and it’s a fine line to walk. I have seen part of the border down in the desert of Arizona. It is a harsh, desolate, and unforgiving landscape. You really don’t grasp how dangerous it is until you see it in person. Border Patrol regularly finds bodies of dead migrants who succumbed to the environment and were no match for the Arizona desert, completely unprepared for just how extreme it is. Another thing that happens is migrants break into people’s houses that live near the border because they are desperate for shelter and food. Because a lot of this happens on Native American reservations the federal government doesn’t really care and leaves the reservations to deal with it on their own. I actually saw an undocumented person during my short time in Arizona on a Native American reservation, a few days later he was picked up by border patrol and most likely deported. Sure, it’s sad, but it’s also unfair to expect the Native American communities, already desolate places on their own, to deal with undocumented migrants when they’re already dealing with their own long-standing issues. It may not put burden the American community at large having all these migrants cross the border illegally but it does put a burden on the communities that are right next to the border who are not prepared to welcome undocumented migrants who often don’t have much of a plan once they cross the border beyond “get to the US.”
Interesting perspective, hadn’t thought of the neighboring communities.
I thought it was a helpful insight, as well.
People (from various countries, especially in Central and South America) will not stop fleeing their country just because they are asked to by a US VP. USA should first and foremost address its issues with gun control. So many guns end up in the hands of gangs in Central and South American countries, because they are not regulated in the US. And then people flee because violence is out of control in their own countries. US is to blame for a lot of things, but they refuse to take actions.
The US is to blame for a lot of things, so many awful self-serving things. And they don’t take responsibility for any of it, but they are not the only reason those countries are in turmoil. That’s a very simplistic view to think that it’s just all the US.
Colonialism by the Europeans already set the stage by then.
Of course the stage was set with colonialism, but the US has been meddling in Guatemala the past 70 years, funding and training paramilitary squads that commit horrible crimes. The US is still running special ops in the region.
If she would just “go to the border,” she will cross the magic portal that unleashes her super powers. She will instantly grow to the height of Burj Khalifa and will be able to stand astride the entire border. She will be a human Statue of Liberty on our southern border. Lightning will shoot out of her fingertips to stop coyotes and traffickers. All will tremble in amazement and Lindsey Graham will spontaneously combust, leaving just a greasy stain on Trump’s useless fence.
I live in AZ, a little over an hour from the border. The only people talking about the border crisis here are Republicans, and they are spreading lies. They are also writing and passing racist policy throughout the state. Our governor is great at using this issue to rile the base who would otherwise hate him. This whole trip was a gimme for AZ trumpublicans like Ducey, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar.
I don’t find Kamala’s messaging to be helpful. Nuance is lost in rhetoric and the take away from this will be the Biden admin is rolling out the unwelcome mat. That doesn’t combat republican lies and it doesn’t help dems. This was a bad, counterproductive trip all around.
It does seem so. I hope we’re wrong.
Biden has kept most of Trump’s immigration polices. Also it is 100% legal to seek Asylum at the border!!
Yeah, just because we hear less of Biden (no crazy tweets and rants) doesn’t mean he is any better on certain topics (almost all?)
It’s legal everywhere but apart from a few cases (Germany’s comes to mind) majority of asylum seekers are treated appallingly in almost all western countries. Nobody wants them and the poor souls are left to fend for themselves in makeshift camps (like in Calais) or put in detention centres (=prisons) for months or even years like in UK.
Alpine witch are refugees treated better in non- western countries? Never heard that
AOC said it best in her tweet:
“This is disappointing to see.
First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival.
Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.”
I’m from Guatemala and while Harris’ firm message was expected, she really showed a genuine interest in giving aid to develop programs for girls and women. Her speech about hope for people in this country was inspiring. I don’t get why there are other Democrats mad at her when she showed a more humane side of American policy abroad.
I think a lot of them didn’t actually read or listen to her full speech. And also they are trying to curb the Republicans in a rather hamfisted way.
They’re mad because in saying that she also implied US immigration system is deliberately hostile against migrants and refugees, which likely is along many others like the one in UK (in UK it’s commonly called ‘the hostile environment’).
But an American VP dissing the system was always going to be met with anger. Majority of countries don’t want to admit that they’re against immigration at institutional level.
AOC is in a 30+ dem district and should give it a rest.
I’m very pro-immigration and to be honest, I’m pretty much pro all immigration, I don’t care. but I know what will happen with Republicans and white America, so zip it always on camera.
The vice president was given a really rough job, and kudos to her for her courage in carrying out an unpleasant task. She is tough-minded and definitely presidential material (unlike the last administration’s two clowns). I respect and trust her. You can’t always do the feel-good, non-controversial stuff, like pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving, reportedly the last guy’s favorite job. She is pragmatic as well as idealistic. She can do realpolitik, which every president must be able to do.
I am a Mexican immigrant myself, but what was she supposed to say? Yes, everyone come to the USA and we will welcome you with open arms, then the RePUKES would use that soundbite forever and ever.
If she said everyone is welcomed, she would be responsible for the countless rapes and deaths that would result from the journey over.
Perhaps saying “don’t come” is too blunt. However, if countries can say to others, “don’t come, we need to stop the spread of COVID,” when would be the right time to say “don’t come, there is COVID, people out to kill and abuse you, and you will likely be turned away at the border?”
She is quite literally between a rock and a hard place.