WASHINGTON – The humanitarian crisis at the southern border has vexed politicians in both parties for years. Now it’s Vice President Kamala Harris’ problem.
President Joe Biden’s administration announced this week that Harris would lead its efforts to reduce the surge of migrants at the southern border, the highest-profile assignment yet for a vice president who had been in search of a portfolio of issues to call her own.
For the former California senator and attorney general, it may be one of the most complicated and urgent issues of her political career. Democrats say tackling immigration carries as much risk as it does reward, giving her a chance to demonstrate leadership, but also potentially exposing her on a volatile issue capable of tarnishing her reputation with liberal and moderate voters alike.
“For a vice president that is trying to burnish her credentials for not just the next four years, but probably the next 15 or 20 years, this is a prime moment for her to do that,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne.
But he added, “Immigration is a tough issue to find consensus on. It is an issue that, politically, there are a lot of trapdoors. And there is certainly an element of risk involved in the vice president taking this on.”
Harris’ political future is of keen interest to many Democrats, some of whom already regard the 56-year-old as the party’s likely heir apparent. At a press conference Thursday, Biden said it is his “expectation” that he will seek re-election in 2024 and that Harris would remain his political partner.
Biden’s statement will do little to quiet speculation about Harris’ political future, or interest from across the political spectrum in how she handles her new role. Harris has limited diplomatic experience, having never served on the Foreign Relations or Armed Services Committees when she was in the Senate, though she was a member committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
“When you’re the vice president and the president comes to you with an incredibly important task, there’s only one answer,” said Brian Brokaw, a former longtime political adviser to Harris. “And I think that’s a testament to her commitment to serving the president and also tackling very tough issues, even when they’re incredibly challenging.”
Stemming the tide of migrants at the border — many of whom are now families or unaccompanied minors — is one of the greatest challenges facing the Biden White House. It has hindered administrations of both parties for decades, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
The challenge has become especially acute this year, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas predicting earlier this month that the number of migrants encountered by border officials will soon reach a 20-year high.
Biden administration officials have resisted labeling the situation a “crisis,” but federal officials have been forced to rapidly expand the number and size of detention facilities to house unaccompanied minors applying for asylum.
Senior administration officials told reporters this week that Harris would work directly with leaders in Mexico and the countries that make up the Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — to help improve conditions that administration officials say prompt most of the migrants to leave their home border.
Former Harris aides argued it’s an issue she is well-positioned to tackle given her background.
“She’s a natural executive and better situated to be the one in charge, gather the facts, and then give marching orders than she is to either stand in the background, which is kind of her job now, or before that sit in a hearing and listen to a bunch of think tank experts talk about potential solutions,” said a former Harris aide said, who was not able to speak publicly.
As California attorney general, Harris collaborated with her Mexican counterparts on efforts to combat drug smuggling and human trafficking, an experience that former aides said prepared her to oversee efforts to address the surge of migrants now.
“She won’t be satisfied with incremental improvements,” Nathan Barankin, a former chief of staff to Harris in the Senate, said of her approach. “She will drive hard for real and sustained types of improvements that will put us on a path towards solving the problem.”
Harris’ background could also help her win over a vocal community of immigration activists who closely monitor the administration’s policy. Some of them welcomed Harris’ assignment, saying she has credibility with their community and a history of advocacy on the issue as a senator.
But they also emphasized that she needed to to fulfill the promises made by Biden to chart a much different immigration policy than Trump.
“The American public and voters elected her and President Biden to the White House to show us a new direction on immigration, one that welcomed immigrants and treated them with respect,” said Greisa Martinez Rosas, the executive director at United We Dream, a pro-immigration advocacy group. “What we’re seeing is an opportunity to do that.”
Biden was criticized by liberals during his presidential campaign for a surge in deportations that occurred while he was Obama’s vice president. Biden pushed back on the criticism, noting he was only vice president at the time and didn’t set the administration’s policy.
Some Democratic officials privately expressed concern that Harris would likewise bear the brunt of potentially unfavorable outcomes, even if she wasn’t in control of the immigration policy that led to them.
“This is not a matter of personnel; this is a matter of policy,” said one Democrat close to the administration, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “The vice president has been put in a position where the likelihood of success is next to minimal.”
Other Democrats said Biden wouldn’t have given Harris the assignment if he thought it would harm her politically.
“I don’t think they’re gonna leave her out on an island,” Payne said.
Biden said as he announced the assignment that “it’s not her full responsibility and job, but she’s leading the effort.”
“She knows what she’s doing, and I hope we can move this along,” he said of Harris before telling her, “I gave you a tough job, and you’re smiling, but there’s no one better capable of trying to organize this for us.”
Barankin said that “no reasonable person” expects Harris to immediately and single-handedly solve Central American nations’ economic problems.
“Success is not going to be saying, ‘Oh, we’ve now made Central America a little slice of Nirvana on Earth, because that is going to take prolonged, sustained work,” Barankin said.
Harris’ work on migration is also drawing the attention of Republican critics, who have already made the crisis on the border a focal point of their messaging this year. After the White House announced Harris’s new role, Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey called the vice president the “worst possible choice one could make.”
Some longtime immigration policy veterans say that even if they expect Harris will thrive in her new role, the criticism will be frequent from both the left and the right.
“My side likes to protest stuff,” said Douglas Rivlin, spokesman for the pro-immigrant group America’s Voice. “But I think she’s going to get criticism from the right and left no matter what she does. And that’ll be a sign she’s probably striking the right balance.”
