The vice president consulted with border officials and migrant children during a trip to El PasoThe trip will inform a technique on the source of migration to be released in coming weeks, the White House said.The White House continues to work on processing migrants that were required to remain in Mexico.Harris was entrusted with diplomatic efforts to attend to migration from the Northern Triangle.WASHINGTON– After months of pressure to go to the U.S.-Mexico border, Vice President Kamala Harris explored a Customs and Border Patrol processing center, met a group of unaccompanied children, checked out a port of entry and is consulting with regional advocates during a journey to El Paso, Texas, on Friday.In remarks ahead of a roundtable with community and faith leaders, Harris stated she was anticipating having a “candid” discussion on why migrants are coming and what they are seeing on the ground.” It is really crucial to the President and me, that we preserve not only access, but a function for you leaders to get involved in our leadership around what requires to be done and what can be done,” Harris stated. Harris, who has actually kept her focus is on diplomatic relations in Central America and Mexico, instead of the circumstance at the border, has been working on diplomatic efforts to stem migration from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.Speaking with press reporters on Friday, Harris said that it was constantly the plan to check out the border.” The reality of it is that we need to handle causes, and we need to deal with the impacts,” Harris informed reporters after deplaning from Air Force 2. “So remaining in Guatemala, being in Mexico, talking with Mexico as a partner, frankly, on this problem, had to do with resolving the causes, and then pertaining to the border … is about looking at the impacts of what we have actually seen occurring in Central America.” Harris is being accompanied on the journey by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who has actually been assisting with negotiations on immigration legislation on Capitol Hill, and Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents parts of El Paso.After arriving Friday early morning, Harris explored a central processing facility run by CBP, and was greeted by Gloria Chavez, primary patrol representative of the El Paso Sector as well as other border patrol officials. During her tour, Harris talked with CBP officials working at the facility. At one point, she towered above the shoulder of a border patrol representative as he strolled her through his work on the computer. CBP officials described brand-new innovation that is being used to rapidly process migrants and cut down on work for border patrol representatives. The officials also explained to Harris how a working group that was produced by Mayorkas has helped simplify the procedure. The authorities said they hoped to work with the Department of Justice to get migration judges into their system to reduce the procedure of providing migrants court dates.” You guys have actually made unbelievable advances and success in simply the last couple of months,” Harris informed the CBP officials.Harris also consulted with a group of 5 young ladies ages 9 to 16, the vice presidents office said. The girls, who were from Central America, drew pictures for the vice president.Harris made an unannounced journey to the Paso del Norte port of entry for a trip of the facility. At one point, Harris remained in an area that held unaccompanied children. A border patrol agent revealed photos of how overcrowded the area remained in 2016. Harris asked the representative ” when did things improve,” to which the agent said in 2018 and even more in 2019. Mayorkas told reporters aboard Air Force 2 that he recommended the vice president visit El Paso “because it is among the busiest sectors” throughout the border “and it supplies the vice president with a chance to see the complete range” of difficulties facing the Department of Homeland Security.Harris see comes days prior to previous President Donald Trump will be heading to the border with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. A group of pro-Trump protesters held signs outside the CBP center, protesting the vice presidents see.” When you speak about dealing with the origin of migration, all of the whole of the immigration work of the administration is linked. Whats happening at the border is straight linked to whats happening in Central America,” Sanders informed reporters in a call Thursday evening.She stated Harris journey will assist “notify” a technique on the root triggers of migration that the administration will launch “in the coming weeks.” The Biden administration has actually faced a big increase of migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border. In May, CBP had 180,034 encounters with migrants at the border, the highest number in a minimum of 20 years. Most of migrants were turned away under Title 42, a Trump-era procedure that enables migrants to be expelled to stop the spread of COVID-19, and a few of the encounters were by people who have actually consistently attempted to cross the border.CBP had 22,219 encounters with migrants at the border in the El Paso area in May, according to data from CBP.Harris in March was charged with focusing on the diplomatic efforts to address the source of migration from the Northern Triangle nations. As part of that role, Harris earlier this month made her first journey abroad to Guatemala and Mexico, where she consulted with Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei and Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.The vice president for months has been pushed by Republicans and some Democrats on Capitol Hill to go to the border, arguing she needs to witness the toll the boost in migrants is taking on border towns and facilities. Throughout an interview carried out throughout her journey in Guatemala, Harris was criticized after she stated “I havent been to Europe” either when reacting to why she hadnt been to the border yet. ” I do not know why she participated in this self-inflicted injury,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., informed USA TODAY. “It appears to me she need to have decreased immediately. Better late than never.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., told USA TODAY shes pleased Harris is going to the border, stating it includes a “new dimension” to her diplomatic objective she began with the Northern Triangle countries.Experts say the trip might inform immigration policySome politicians, professionals and activists think Harris visit to the border may help shape important policies to deal with source from the Northern Triangle region, along with display where the Biden administration stands on how they process and hold migrants. However, others stated the bulk of Harris work to address source will occur abroad diplomatically, instead of locally.” I believe theres absolutely nothing like existing in person, and having the possibility to speak with people, to better understand the problems and concerns, and then have the ability to craft policy and prioritize the concerns,” stated Lucy Bassett, associate professor of practice of public policy at the University of Virginia, who has actually also researched migrant children and households at the border.Aside from controlling the circulation of migrants, the Biden administration deals with pressure to end Title 42. Bassett kept in mind that Harris trip might impact when the policy will end.The White House is likewise continuing to deal with processing migrants that were forced to stay in Mexico as they wait for court hearings due to a Trump policy called the Migrant Protection Protocols. The White House is also dealing with criticism over some of the emergency influx care facilities real estate unaccompanied children.At Fort Bliss, which lies near El Paso, sources told the El Paso Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, that there are harmful and upsetting conditions at the emergency situation shelter there. Bassett stated “the origin are so complex,” which Harris see to the border might benefit her on much better understanding what happens to migrants once they show up in the United States after running away from their home countries.” I believe by having been in Central America and now getting to our border, shell see in individual what happens to individuals who have gotten away due to those root triggers, and what kind of U.S. infrastructure has to react,” Bassett said.Bassett said she believes attending to migration is a “2 pronged method,” encompassing the source and “providing individuals who do cross our border with the right kind of services and assistance.”” Its not simply we need to handle the root causes … that will take a lot time to change that in the meantime we also need to enhance the systems, whether thats having enough Border Patrol and judges, and improving the speed with which we can securely determine guardians and member of the family for unaccompanied kids,” Bassett said.Eric Hershberg, director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University, stated he does not think Harris had to go visit the border because its not part of her role in addressing the factors why people are originating from Central America.” El Paso has absolutely nothing to do with the origin of migration, so I do not see what the connection would be between this journey, and the administrations efforts to deal with the root causes,” Hershberg stated, including that “the border is the focus of quite a bit of criticism from the administrations opponents domestically, who are attempting to make the argument that there is an out of control crisis.” Hershberg stated while Harris can not resolve root causes at the border, she will likely be looking at where at migrants are processed and held. ” The concern of whether the administrative capacity of DHS and HHS, which had actually been deteriorated by the previous administration, whether those administrative capacities have actually been sufficiently restored to manage his circulation of individuals, thats something that you can discover by going to the border,” he said, including its important that Mayorkas is accompanying the vice president to the border.” The truth that the vice president is on a journey with the secretary of DHS signals the degree to which the administration takes seriously this concern of its ability in collaboration with nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations that deal with and supplement the efforts of the federal government,” Hershberg said. “Thats an essential message.” Contributing: Ledyard KingReach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

The vice president fulfilled with border officials and migrant kids throughout a journey to El PasoThe journey will notify a method on the root causes of migration to be released in coming weeks, the White House said.The White House continues to work on processing migrants that were required to stay in Mexico.Harris was charged with diplomatic efforts to address migration from the Northern Triangle.WASHINGTON– After months of pressure to check out the U.S.-Mexico border, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Customs and Border Patrol processing center, fulfilled with a group of unaccompanied kids, went to a port of entry and is satisfying with local advocates during a trip to El Paso, Texas, on Friday.In remarks ahead of a roundtable with neighborhood and faith leaders, Harris stated she was looking forward to having a “candid” discussion on why migrants are coming and what they are seeing on the ground. Harris, who has maintained her focus is on diplomatic relations in Central America and Mexico, rather than the circumstance at the border, has been working on diplomatic efforts to stem migration from the Northern Triangle nations of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.Speaking with press reporters on Friday, Harris stated that it was always the strategy to visit the border. Bassett stated “the root causes are so complex,” and that Harris check out to the border might benefit her on much better understanding what takes place to migrants once they show up in the United States after fleeing from their home nations.” Its not simply we have to deal with the root triggers … that will take so much time to change that in the meantime we likewise require to improve the systems, whether thats having enough Border Patrol and judges, and enhancing the speed with which we can securely identify guardians and household members for unaccompanied kids,” Bassett said.Eric Hershberg, director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University, said he does not believe Harris had to go visit the border since its not part of her function in addressing the reasons why people are coming from Central America.” El Paso has absolutely nothing to do with the root causes of migration, so I dont see what the connection would be between this journey, and the administrations efforts to address the root causes,” Hershberg stated, including that “the border is the focus of rather a bit of criticism from the administrations challengers locally, who are attempting to make the argument that there is an out of control crisis.