U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

08/06/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/06/2024 12:18

Comer Probes Vice President Harris’s Role in the Worst Border Crisis in U.S. History

WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is investigating Vice President Kamala Harris's role in creating the worst border crisis in American history as President Biden's "border czar." In a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller, Chairman Comer is requesting documents and communications between CBP and the Executive Office of the Vice President related to the southwest border or illegal immigration.

"The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating Vice President Harris's role in effectuating the worst border crisis in American history. On March 24, 2021, President Biden tasked Vice President Harris with 'stemming the migration to our southern border.' The media anointed her the Administration's 'border czar.' Since the Biden-Harris Administration assumed office, there have been more than 8 million illegal aliens encountered entering the country through the southwest border and over 1.6 million 'gotaways.' The mass illegal migration under the Biden-Harris Administration has contributed to murders, sexual assaults, and serious bodily injuries committed against numerous Americans at the hands of illegal aliens," wrote Chairman Comer. "The Committee requests documents and communications to understand Vice President Harris's role in the worst border crisis in American history."

Vice President Harris's abysmal record on border security predates her taking office as Vice President of the United States. In 2018, then-Senator Harris called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be reworked "from scratch" and compared ICE agents' enforcement of U.S. immigration law to the tactics of the Ku Klux Klan. She has been critical of the border wall despite frontline Border Patrol agents supporting it as an effective tool to curb illegal immigration. Illegal aliens from over 170 countries entered the United States illegally in Fiscal Year 2023 under the Biden-Harris Administration. Vice President Harris's root causes approach to solving the border crisis-focusing on illegal migration from Central America-has been an abject failure as encounters at the southwest border remain historically high.

"It is unclear what actions, if any, Vice President Harris has taken to fix the border crisis. Rather, she has claimed that '[w]e have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation.' The Committee seeks to understand whether Vice President Harris has 'done anything' to address the worst border crisis in American history," continued Chairman Comer.

Read the letter to Senior Official Miller here.