“Let me be very clear. I am committed to ensuring that the United States is a safe haven for asylum seekers. Period, ”Democrat Kamala Harris said in a statement to EFE after her first international trip.
The vice president’s stance has followed criticism this week from her own party, including Democratic Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for not “coming” to the United States during her visit to Guatemala and Mexico. …
Already today, Kamala Harris has pledged that the Biden administration is ready to “expand legal channels of immigration” to the United States and that for this reason it is pressuring Congress to reform the issue.
“We are rebuilding our immigration system, which deteriorated under the last government. [de Donald Trump]but we must also pay attention to the roots of migration. That’s why I went to Guatemala and Mexico, ”he said.
The vice president also assured that the US administration “is not ignoring Honduras and El Salvador,” two countries that were not included in the itinerary of this week’s visit.
On Wednesday, US officials announced that immigration arrests along the Mexican border in May reached a record high of more than 180,000.
The 180,034 arrests in the last month represent an increase of about 1% from the 178,622 arrests recorded in April, which in turn is 3% higher than the 173,348 arrests in March, in the two months that have already reached historic maximum at that time.
Despite the overall increase, the arrivals of unaccompanied minors at the border in May (14,158) decreased for the second consecutive month.
These numbers demonstrate that despite the efforts made by Vice President Kamala Harris, the immigration crisis persists at the southern border of the United States, where the arrival of illegal immigrants has not stopped since US President Joe Biden took office in January.
