US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Tribal Nations Summit in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, in Washington, DC, on November 16, 2021. (Photo by AFP)
A Texas lawmaker has called for the replacement of US Vice President Kamala Harris as "border czar," as chaos continues at the southern border amid a surge in migrants attempting to cross into the United States.
Democrat representative Henry Cuellar said on Wednesday that he has had enough of Harris and that its time "to look at other folks that have the expertise" on the current humanitarian crisis.
"I dont think shes, with all due respect, put the effort in there," she said.
"Ive moved on from the vice president to say, ‘OK, lets work with the ambassadors and lets work with the State Department. Lets work with the Homeland Secretary," Cuellar added.
President Biden named Harris as Border Czar in late March as the migration crisis amounted to a humanitarian crisis across the southern border.
However, the number of migrants apprehended at the southern border in October surged 128% from the same time last year, according to data released Monday by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The figures showed 164,303 migrant encounters along the southern border last month, a rate that has skyrocketed since October 2020, when there were 71,929 apprehensions.
Biden himself stands accused of inciting a chaotic migrant rush on the US border with Mexico after he vowed to unwind many of the immigration policies of his predecessor Donald Trump when he assumed office in January.
He announced measures to halt the construction of Trumps border wall and to allow asylum seekers to live in the US rather in Mexico until their claims are considered.
The administration, however, opened detention centers, used by Trump, to lock up refugee children - a move the Democrat had criticized as former presidents "zero tolerance" immigration policy.
Republicans say President Biden and Harris are "doing nothing" to stop the flow of illegal migrants crossing the border, calling for an end to "disastrous immigration policies."
A CNN report said back in June that Harris herself has said she didnt want to be assigned to manage the border crisis. She visited the US-Mexican border in early June, asking migrants "not to come" to the US.
In addition to criticism Harris has faced about the migrant crisis, she is also struggling to make her mark, according to leading US media outlets.
According to a report published by CNN, Harris was struggling with a rocky relationship with some parts of the White House.
The report entitled, "Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris frustrating start as vice president" said Harris long-time supporters feel abandoned and see no coherent public sense of what shes done or been trying to do as vice president.
"Kamala Harris is a leader but is not being put in positions to lead," said a top donor to Biden and other Democrats. "We need to be thinking long term, and we need to be doing whats best for the [Democratic] party."
Reports also suggested that Biden may be considering removing her as Vice President by appointing her to the supreme court.
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, however, defended the VP as a "bold leader" who has come under attack because she is "the first woman of color" to be vice-president in US history.
Psaki said she feels that sexism and racism have contributed to the intensity of criticism faced by Harris.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/23982
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