House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confronted Vice President Kamala Harris on her actions that have worsened border conditions during an interview with CNN. Johnson’s response came after Harris accused Republicans of “playing politics” with the border crisis. Johnson criticized Harris for her lack of action in securing the border and stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the country.
Johnson expressed his disappointment in Harris’s recommendations for solutions, which included granting mass amnesty and spending taxpayer dollars to process more illegal immigrants instead of addressing the issue at its root. He argued that this approach would only incentivize lawlessness and chaos. Johnson stated that the Biden administration cannot be trusted to solve the crisis they created, as their idea is to attract more aliens and further compromise America’s national and economic security.
Harris, who was tasked with finding long-term solutions to the border crisis, has not been actively involved in negotiations with Congress to find a bipartisan compromise. When asked about the current state of the talks, she admitted that the immigration system is broken and highlighted the Biden administration’s efforts to create a pathway to citizenship and allocate resources to the border. However, Harris criticized the opposition for playing politics with the issue.
Johnson and House Republicans have been advocating for stricter border security measures, including policies similar to H.R.2, a border bill passed by House Republicans in May. These policies aim to impose severe restrictions on asylum and reintroduce Trump administration-era policies like Remain In Mexico. However, Democrats, who control the White House and Senate, have dismissed the bill.
The number of people encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border last month is expected to have reached an all-time historic high of over 300,000. As negotiations continue, Johnson and his GOP conference remain committed to pushing for stronger border security measures compared to those likely to be proposed by the Senate bipartisan talks.
The article reached out to Vice President Harris’s office for comment, but no response was received at the time of publication.
This article was written by Elizabeth Elkind, a reporter for Digital, focusing on Congress and the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics. Elkind’s previous digital bylines can be seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
