The Republican-led House passed a resolution on Thursday, slamming Vice President Kamala Harris for her role as “border czar” and criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration.
In a surprising turn, six Democrats crossed party lines to join 214 Republicans in supporting the measure. Meanwhile, 196 Democrats opposed it, and sixteen members, including six Republicans and ten Democrats, abstained from voting. The Democrats who broke ranks were Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Don Davis (D-NC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Mary Peltola (D-AK), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA).
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the House GOP Conference chairwoman, introduced the resolution on Tuesday, right after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. With enough delegate support, Harris is poised to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination.
The resolution sharply criticizes the Biden administration and Vice President Harris for their alleged failure to secure the U.S. border. It asserts that the American people deserve leaders who grasp the severity of the border crisis and are committed to enacting effective policies. Additionally, it warns that continuing Biden and Harris’s border policies would spell disaster for the nation.
Biden had tasked Harris in March 2021 with leading efforts to collaborate with Mexico and other nations to address migration to the southern U.S. border. Harris emphasized the need to tackle the root causes of migration. However, Stefanik’s resolution accuses Biden and Harris of exacerbating the border crisis with “far-left Democrat open border policies,” particularly pointing to the termination of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program in August 2022.
The resolution also highlights Harris’s delay in visiting the border, the surge in illegal immigrant encounters, crimes committed by illegal immigrants, attempts by individuals on the terrorist watch list to cross the border, and the financial burden on taxpayers. “Today my resolution condemning Kamala Harris for her role as Joe Biden’s open border czar passed the House. Let me be clear: Harris and every elected Democrat owns this historic border crisis that has turned every community into a border community. It is time that we return to President Donald Trump’s border security policies that put the safety of American citizens first,” Stefanik stated after the vote.
Stefanik continued to criticize Harris, citing her observations of the Northern Border in the Swanton Sector, where she witnessed the fallout from what she calls Harris’s failed policies. She argued that Harris has not only created a national security crisis but also a humanitarian one, endangering millions of lives. “House Republicans will secure the border,” Stefanik vowed.
The six Democrats who supported the resolution have previously backed other GOP measures denouncing the Biden administration’s border policies, reflecting the importance of immigration issues in the current political climate.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) dismissed Stefanik’s resolution as a “fake and fraudulent resolution” during a press conference before the vote.
