On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he was assigning Vice President Kamala Harris to lead his administration’s effort to stem migration from Central America, calling her “the most qualified person to do it.” Biden said Harris would “lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle” — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — which he said, “are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks — stemming the migration to our southern border” as the United States deals with a surge of unaccompanied minors crossing its southern border.
Senior administration officials said Wednesday that Harris will work along two tracks — “stemming the flow of irregular migrants to the U.S.” in the near term, and in the longer term, establishing a “strategic partnership” with Mexico and Northern Triangle countries “based on respect and shared values, to enhance prosperity, combat corruption and strengthen the rule of law.”
Harris said Wednesday “there’s no question that this is a challenging situation” and that she planned to engage with foreign leaders, civil society and the private sector. Harris added: “I also look forward to working with members of Congress who I think share our perspective on the need to address root causes for the migration that we’ve been seeing.”
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