Vice President Kamala Harris took a trip to the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Tex., on Friday, but in so doing she did not visit either the border itself, or Fort Bliss, where migrant children are housed in difficult conditions. Harris' visit to El Paso took place over 7 hours on Friday.
"Why not visit Fort Bliss which is just 10 miles away and has hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children reportedly in very difficult conditions?" Mayorkas was asked on CBS This Morning.
Mayorkas had a non-answer. "The Vice President and the President directed Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to visit Fort Bliss, which is under his responsibility, and he's doing so [Sunday]."
"It was just 10 miles away, why not just include it in the Vice President's trip?"
"Well y'know we had quite a bit to see. And we were able to meet with the CBP, the Customs and Border Protection personnel, both in the central processing center and the port of entry. The Vice President was able to meet with migrant children and understand why they fled their homes in desperation.
"She was also able to meet with community members to understand what they have been learning from the migrants who have fled the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. It was most instructive. And what the president and Vice President have done from the very outset is direct their cabinet officials including me to address the situation at the border."
Harris stated that her decision to visit El Paso was not influenced by pressure from Republicans, though former President Trump had announced his plans to visit the area with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on June 30.
"The important aspect of this visit is needing this visit after the work that we did in Guatemala and Mexico," said Harris, defending the timing of her visit. "I said in March I was going to the border, this is not a new plan. But the reality of it is that we have to deal with causes and we have to deal with the effects."
Harris said her Mexico and Guatemala trips were about dealing with the "root causes" of the massive surge in southern border immigration, while going to the border was to deal with the effects.
"It was always the plan to come here," Harris continued.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas added on Friday that "we've made extraordinary progress" at the border, adding that he was looking forward to sharing that progress with the Vice President. He did not provide details to reporters.
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