Kamala Harris as a border czar is political hyperbole?

[AgnosticBoy]

Trump and many in the right-wing media has been attacking Kamala Harris for her job on the southern border. The Republicans say that she was appointed as a "border czar". I find that to be an example of political hyperbole rhetoric by the Republicans or just flat lying for the most part. Here's why...

Vice President Harris was tasked with increasing business investment in Central America, as long-range planning to reduce immigration.

She was NOT tasked with being “border czar” or “czarina” as right-wing media like to say.

And was she successful on the investment? Yes, it did increase, but I’m guessing it was on the upswing anyway post-Covid and all.

This illustrates that it’s hard to get credit for long-term economic factors, as important as these are!

This point by one forum member is backed up by this 2021 article in Politico (when Biden appointed VP Harris to handle immigration):

Vice President Kamala Harris will be the White House’s point person on immigration issues at the nation’s southern border, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, tasking her with stemming the rising tide of migrants, many of them unaccompanied children, arriving in the U.S.

Harris’ main focus, a senior administration official told reporters earlier Wednesday, will be two-pronged: working to slow the flow of “irregular migrants” by addressing “the root causes” that prompt them to leave their home countries as well as strengthening relationships with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries where the bulk of the migrants arriving at the U.S. border come from.

On the call with reporters, aides made clear that Harris would not be owning the entire immigration portfolio for the administration and would be instead focused on long-term efforts in Central America.

That is pretty definitive if you ask me.

BUt since this is the forum section devoted to discussions about partisan behavior... I'll open the floor for others to react!

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Republicans call Harris a failed border czar. The truth is more complicated, Reuters news — ​

Today — July 30, 2024

“Harris made two trips to Central America: Guatemala in June 2021 and Honduras in January 2022.”

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And of course, any manufacturing investment in Central America is investment not coming to the United States. At least in the short-term.

And this is where economics gets tricky, because in the long-term, hopefully things are a growing pie.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

The plot thickens!

tonight, a conservative acquaintance said President Biden did task VP Harris, and he showed me Axios and Yahoo News articles which seemed valid— from 2021 and ‘22.

although he goes to such wild west websites, I’m going to have to look them up myself!

 

[AgnosticBoy]

The plot thickens!

tonight, a conservative acquaintance said President Biden did task VP Harris, and he showed me Axios and Yahoo News articles which seemed valid— from 2021 and ‘22.

although he goes to such wild west websites, I’m going to have to look them up myself!

What did it say she was tasked with?

I read an Axios article that referred to Kamala as border czar back in 2021 or 22, but they've recently retracted that saying that the title was not correct. I don't see any evidence that she was a border czar, but what's most important to me now is seeing what her policies are. There are sound bites here and there, but I'd like it spelled out as being officially her position.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Biden taps VP Harris to lead response to border challenges

President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border.

apnews.com

March 2021 —

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border and work with Central American nations to address root causes of the problem.

Biden made the announcement as he and Harris met at the White House on Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas and other immigration advisers to discuss the increase in migrants, including many unaccompanied minors, arriving at the border in recent weeks.

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“When she speaks, she speaks for me,” Biden said, noting her past work as California’s attorney general makes her specially equipped to lead the administration’s response.

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Okay, somewhere I read that giving the Vice-President a “portfolio” doesn’t work. Even a very important portfolio item like this obviously is.

What works is involving the Vice President in each and every important decision. And like a business leader would have a strong “number two,” I’m open to that model.

Maybe Dick Cheney as a strong “Assistant President” ? ? But I think President Bush, Jr., had known Dick Cheney for a long time, so we’re talking about somewhat special circumstances.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

I read an Axios article that referred to Kamala as border czar back in 2021 or 22, but they've recently retracted that saying that the title was not correct.

I think a publication should generally not change their titles. Or, if they do, they should do something like “OLD TITLE — ”

 

[AgnosticBoy]

“When she speaks, she speaks for me,” Biden said, noting her past work as California’s attorney general makes her specially equipped to lead the administration’s response.

Thanks for posting that. From the same article, it later specifies what her role would be:

Harris is tasked with overseeing diplomatic efforts to deal with issues spurring migration in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as pressing them to strengthen enforcement on their own borders, administration officials said. She’s also tasked with developing and implementing a long-term strategy that gets at the root causes of migration from those countries.

Based on that information, I still view it as political hyperbole by Republicans to call her the border czar. Either way, this will turn out to be a very interesting election season to say the least.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Based on that information, I still view it as political hyperbole by Republicans to call her the border czar.

I respectfully disagree. In modern political parlance, “czar” means point person.