EL PASO: Vice President Kamala Harris asserted on Friday that the United States had made progress tackling a migration spike that has drawn fire from Republicans and made fellow Democrats uncomfortable. Her first trip to the US-Mexico border as head of the Biden administrations response is being closely watched on all sides.

Visiting El Paso, Harris called the situation at the border tough and said more work is needed, anchored in a thorough understanding of why migrants leave their homes.

She met five young girls, aged 9-16, who had been held at a customs and border protection processing centre after crossing the border, the White House said, before visiting the border itself at the Paso del Norte port of entry.

Thus far, much of Harris’s attention has been devoted to what she calls the root causes of migration, namely poverty, crime and corruption in Central America.

“The stories that I heard today reinforce the nature of those root causes,” she said. “t is going to require, as we have been doing, a comprehensive approach that acknowledges each piece of this.”

During a meeting with faith-based organisations, as well as shelter and legal service providers, Harris said she and Biden inherited a tough situation’.

She added: “In five months we’ve made progress, but there’s still more work to be done, but we’ve made progress.”

The vice president has faced increasing criticism from members of both parties for deferring the trip until now and for her muddied explanations as to why.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2021