Senior Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar has given up on working with Vice President Kamala Harris to resolve the border crisis and wants a new border czar.
The South Texas congressman told reporters in a call Wednesday morning that he is no longer working with Harris on migration issues and has shifted his focus to working with other Biden administration officials whom he described as more cooperative and helpful.
“I’ve moved on from the vice president to say, ‘OK, let’s work with the ambassadors and let’s work with the State Department. Let’s work with the Homeland Secretary,’” Cuellar said. “I think that’s the way to address it, but I know that the media has put a lot of focus on the vice president, but with all due respect, she was given that title. I don’t think she’s, with all due respect, put the effort in there … We’ve got to look at other folks that have the expertise on that.”
Harris was tasked in the spring with handling Central American migration issues, though not specifically serving as a border czar. Her role focused on improving conditions in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which were at the time the three top countries of origin for migrants aside from Mexico. Venezuela and Haiti have since seen more citizens crossing the border than the Central American countries on certain days since September, according to senior Border Patrol officials.
Republicans for months have chided Harris for not doing enough in regard to the crisis.
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“I wish we had a border czar. We’ve had border czars under different administrations,” Cuellar added.
President Joe Biden had appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson as border czar in January. Jacobson unexpectedly left her post in April, and the post has been vacant since then. The number of noncitizens encountered attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico spiked shortly after Biden took office, jumping from 80,000 encounters in one month to more than 215,000 by July. The number dropped in October to 164,000 but remains three times higher compared to an average month over the past decade.
While Cuellar waits for a new border czar, he is focused on working closely with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar in an effort to get Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration to curb illegal migration to the U.S.
“We had an excellent conversation today about the things they’re trying to get Mexico to play defense on their 1-yard line instead of our 1-yard line,” Cuellar said.
Lopez Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with Biden at the White House Thursday for the North American Leaders’ Summit. The leaders “will reaffirm their strong ties and integration while also charting a new path for collaboration on ending the Covid-19 pandemic and advancing health security; competitiveness and equitable growth, to include climate change; and a regional vision for migration,” according to a statement from the White House.
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“We’re hoping that some of these issues will be brought up,” Cuellar said. “In talking to the ambassador, I think he gets it. He’ll work on that.”
