What Happened During Kamala Harris Trip to U.S./Mexico Border

Senator Durbin urges Congress to act on immigration reform

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said his trip with Vice President Harris in El Paso, Texas Friday demonstrated the "carry and commitment" the Harris and the Biden administration have to "meaningful immigration reform."

At a press conference to conclude the trip along the border with Harris, Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Drubin urged Congress to act in a bipartisan way to address immigration.

"Congress needs to do its part when it comes to immigration reform," Durbin, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.

"Everyone complains" about the system, he said, "but when it comes to dealing with it, they don't want to lift a finger."

Representative Escobar, who represents El Paso in Texas' 16th district, echoed Durbin's message to Congress.

"Congress has an important role," she said, noting immigration legislation the House has passed. "But we need to get support from the Senate to make this happen. We have to re-envision the way we greet migrants" coming into the United States.

She added that "we need permanent, meaningful and positive change."

Harris says we've "made progress" along the border

Vice President Harris said she believes the administration and the Customs and Border Patrol agents are "making progress" in their efforts to ensure the immigration system is "orderly and humane."

However, during a press conference after meeting with CBP agents and social service leaders, she noted that "we are not where we want to be yet."

Harris said that when talking about the border, "let's not lose sight that we are talking about human beings."

She added that she heard "stories involving horrendous tales of abuse, fear and harm" for migrants in their home countries but also along the path of migration.

Therefore, Harris implored that lawmakers have a "sense of humanity" and address immigration issues in a way that is "informed by fact, reality and a perspective dedicated to addressing problems in the most constructive way."

Harris also mentioned that she chose to visit El Paso because it "highlights many issues of immigration."

She noted that the city was the site of the Trump administration's child separation and "return to Mexico" policies. However, Harris said that the issues on the border should not be political or discussed through "rhetoric and finger-pointing."

"This was an important trip that connects with the obvious point, if you want to deal with problems, you cannot just deal with the symptoms," Harris said. "You have to figure out what caused it."

Harris says "people don't want to leave their homes" ahead of meeting with NGO leaders

Vice President Harris is now meeting with leaders of faith-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs), social service advocates and legal providers who work along the border.

Harris told the press that the Biden administration will partner with Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. She said they "signed a memorandum of understanding about the investments into resources and priorities each of our countries will put into addressing the issues in Central America," focusing on Haundrus, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Harris said the administration is approaching their work on migration with two principles.

The first, she said, was that "most people do not want to leave their homes."

"They don't want to leave their culture, their language, their church, their abuelas," Harris said.

And so when they do, she continued, it is "because they fleeing some harm or because staying home means they cannot satisfy the basic needs of their family."

The second principle, Harris said, is that "we have the capacity to give people hope and a belief that help is on the way."

Ahead of their meeting Friday, Harris said she wants to "hear from leaders on the ground."

"It is very important to the president and me that we maintain not only access but a role for you leaders to participate in our leadership around what needs to be down," she said.

Harris tells reporters this "is not my first trip" to the border

Vice President Harris told reporters Friday that "it's not my first trip" to the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of her long-awaited visit.

When she arrived in El Paso, Texas, Harris was asked why she decided right now was the right time to make her first visit to the border.

Harris responded saying, "Well, it's not my first trip. I've been to the border many times."

Read more here.

Harris staffers resign

Two of Kamala Harris' staffers in charge of coordinating trips for the vice president are resigning as she visits the southern border.

Karly Satkowiak, Harris' director of advance, and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, Harris' deputy director of advance, have both told the vice president's office they plan to leave in the coming weeks, The New York Times reported.

Staffers on the advance team are responsible for planning the vice president's trips, surveying venues for Harris to visits and working with local officials to prepare venues for the media.

Read more here.

Harris heads to port of entry on the border

Vice President Harris left the CBP facility at around 9:20 a.m. local time.

While inside, the vice president met with five young girls from Central America.

"They drew pictures for her and they told the vice president what they wanted to be when they grow up," Harris' office told pool reporters.

The press was not present for this interaction.

Harris is now making a previously unannounced trip to the Paso del Norte (PDN) Port of Entry in El Paso.

"On the stop, she will tour an area for screening of asylum applicants as they enter from Mexico, view a secondary processing area for migrants, and inspect an outdoor vehicle inspection area used to screen vehicles crossing the border for illegal goods or activities," the vice president's office told reporters.

The Paso del Norte Port of Entry is one of the country's busiest pedestrian border crossings and is located on the Paso Del Norte International Bridge.

CBP agents tell Harris new technology is a "game changer" for processing

According to pool reports, everyone, including the press, wore masks at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility when the Vice President arrived.

Harris could be heard discussing appropriations and medical costs with agents in their initial discussion.

One agent told the vice president that El Paso is a "very vibrant city" during the conversation and an agent told the officials that they are working on a plan to get up to 100 percent vehicle scanning.

Harris continued her tour inside of the processing center, asking agents at computers about their work.

The agents told her that new technology has streamlined processing at the facility, according to pool reports.

Agents said that they are trying to lessen paperwork and cut down on work for agents and intake processing time with new technology.

"I would imagine it also increases the accuracy," Harris said

One agent explained that the new technology is "a game-changer" when it comes to process and "the flow of people"

Harris said they have made "incredible advances" in a short time and congratulated them on the effort.

Harris says Texas trip is about causes and effects of migration

Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived in Texas. After she landed, she told reporters that this trip is about dealing with causes and effects of migration.

"We are here today to address and to talk about what has brought people to the U.S. border and to address the root causes which cause people to leave and often flee their home country," Harris said after she departed Air Force Two.

She said that this trip to Texas is building off the work she did in Mexico and Guatemala.

Harris said that visiting Mexico and Guatemala was about "addressing the causes" and this visit in Texas is about "looking at the effects of what we have seen happening in Central America."

"I'm glad to be here, it was always the plan to come here, and I think we are going to have a good and productive day," she added.

Harris is now speaking with Border Patrol agents at the El Paso Central Processing Center. According to Associated Press reporter Alexandra Jaffe, the vice president is discussing issues such as budgets and how processing migrants works at the station.

Protestors with "Trump Won" signs greet Harris at border

As Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, protestors gathered with signs that read "Trump Won" and "Latinos Somos Republicano."

"Kamala, you came a little too late," Congressional candidate Irene Armendariz Jackson said. "We have had this crisis for years. We need solutions, we don't need you parading at the Border Patrol station and acting like you care."

"Americans matter, America matters," she added.