House lawmakers on a bipartisan basis passed a resolution Thursday “strongly condemning” Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration for botching the US border crisis.
The resolution, introduced by House Republican conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik, was approved in a 220-196 vote and ripped “border czar” Harris and President Biden for failing to “understand the gravity of the crisis at the border” and “fix” it.
At least six Democrats — Reps. Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Mary Peltola of Alaska — voted to condemn their party’s now-presumptive nominee for making a mess of migration. Harris gained that status after Biden, 81, withdrew from the 2024 race on Sunday.
Another 214 Republicans voted with the Democratic detractors. All of the “nay” votes came from the rest of the House Democratic caucus.
“Harris and every elected Democrat owns this historic border crisis that has turned every community into a border community,” said Stefanik (R-NY). “It is time that we return to President Donald Trump’s border security policies that put the safety of American citizens first.”
“At our Northern Border in the Swanton Sector, I have seen firsthand with the Border Patrol the disastrous consequences of Kamala Harris’ failed Far Left open border agenda which caused a historic surge in illegal crossings like we have never seen at our Northern Border before including individuals on the terrorist watchlist,” added Stefanik, whose district covers upstate New York.
“Kamala Harris didn’t just create a national security crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that has endangered the lives of millions. House Republicans will secure the border,” she declared.
Mainstream media outlets have been denying that Harris was ever the Biden administration’s “border czar” — before having to awkwardly admit to using the title in past reports and in some cases editing out information about her left-wing stances.
Biden tapped Harris in March 2021 to address the “root causes” of the migrant crisis — but it took her another three months before she took a trip to the US-Mexico border, and since then, at least 8 million migrants have come into the country.
The tallies of migrant encounters by the Border Patrol and the rise in the foreign-born population have broken records since 2021, when Biden and Harris, 59, took office.
Weeks before her trip, the vice president dismissed criticism for not showing up by declaring in a June 2021 interview with NBC News, “We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border.”
“You haven’t been to the border,” NBC anchor Lester Holt pushed back.
“And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris replied with an awkward laugh. “And I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”
Harris the same month had urged migrants to “not come” to the US during a visit to Guatemala, which along with Honduras and El Salvador was in her immigration portfolio.
Despite voting for the resolution against Harris and the Biden administration, the six Democrats who joined Republicans claimed they were merely protesting the handling of the border crisis.
“My position on the administration’s handling of the border has not changed,” Golden, who co-chairs the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, told The Post in a statement.
“I supported similar resolutions in the past and until provisions needed to secure our border — such as Title 42 and ‘Remain in Mexico’ — are adopted, I will continue to be critical of this administration.”
Others also echoed that sentiment.
“After making three trips to the southern border, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of comprehensive immigration reform, including securing the border,” Davis, 52, said in a statement to The Post.
“As the administration transitions, it’s essential to continue listening and stepping up efforts to address these significant concerns. Likewise, Congress must put politics aside and work together in a bipartisan manner to accomplish this,” he added.
Peltola stressed to The Post that, “This isn’t about any one person — it’s about our border not being secure and fentanyl destroying Alaska communities.”
Most of those six Democrats hail from at least somewhat competitive districts and have generally been viewed as more moderate members of the House Democratic conference.
House Republicans have long criticized Biden, Harris and other administration officials for rolling back Trump-era immigration policies like “Remain in Mexico” — and refusing to acknowledge the American women and girls allegedly murdered by criminal migrants who slipped into the US, including Laken Riley, Rachel Morin and Jocelyn Nungary.
At least 50 migrants in an ISIS-affiliated human smuggling network have also come into the country, 16 of whom have since been apprehended by federal authorities.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is not just a failed border czar — she is an extremist on border security and immigration enforcement, as her record as a senator, presidential candidate, and vice president makes abundantly clear,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.).
“In March 2021, President Biden told the country that Vice President Harris was ‘the most qualified person to … lead our efforts’ in stemming the flood of illegal aliens across our Southwest border,” Green explained.
“No rational person could look at the years since and conclude anything except that she was utterly unqualified, and has completely failed,” he said.
“While Democrats and their allies in the media rush to excuse Vice President Harris’ catastrophic failure to end the crisis she and President Biden created,” Green added, “Congress has shown with this resolution that we want the American people to know the truth.”
