Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tried to shield Vice President Kamala Harris from some of the heat she has received for flying to El Paso, Texas, on her trip to the southern border as opposed to the Rio Grande.

“I recommended to the vice president that we visit El Paso because it is one of the busiest sectors on the border,” Mayorkas said at a press conference Friday at the conclusion of Harris’s trip. “El Paso reflects many diverse elements of our mission. It demonstrates also the progress that has been made and the work that remains.”