Vice President Harris hosted members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus this week — as House Democrats call on the administration to overhaul federal immigration policies they accuse of relying on a “discriminatory legal system.”
Harris’ Monday meeting with 15 Democratic lawmakers came as record illegal immigration surges continue to overwhelm authorities at the southern border.
Speaking to reporters just before the start of the gathering, Harris touched briefly on the migrant crisis, noting that the group would be discussing “how we can address the root causes of migration.”
She also noted that, “We are bringing CEOs of private corporations in the US together to think about their support,” without elaborating much more.
Several meeting attendees told The Hill on Monday that the vice president touted those meetings with corporate leaders, whom she described as eager to invest in Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
She also revealed to those in the meeting what the administration’s strategy was for tackling the migrant crisis, saying it was based on engaging groups ranging from the private sector, to third-world countries, to non-governmental organizations in the region — not mentioning if any border agents or Homeland Security officials would be involved in talks on solutions.
She also referenced the Mexican government, as well as the Northern Triangle leaders.
What work she was doing with said groups was not made clear.
The Biden administration’s undoing of former President Trump’s border policies has prompted a flood of Central American and Mexican illegal migrants at the US border, including thousands of unescorted children.
Central Americans looking for refuge from the Northern Triangle countries have taken these policy moves, as well as the overwhelmingly more welcoming tone from Democrats, as a sign that President Biden is inviting them to cross the border.
Insisting that the border was not facing a crisis, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in early March that the problems the agency faced should be blamed on the previous administration.
The data, however, overwhelmingly shows that migrants were flooding the border because they believed Biden would welcome them with open arms.
As Mayorkas denied the existence of a crisis, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the new president for the crisis, arguing that the “expectations” he set left migrants with the perception that they would be let into the US.
Despite this, a number of House Democrats are maintaining their claim that the federal government must radically transform its policies to “end the carceral approach to immigration.”
“Carceral,” in this case, refers to prison-like circumstances.
In a letter dated Friday from 34 Democrats led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the group argued that, “We are in a moment of racial reckoning in this country, with communities across the country calling for an end to mass incarceration and racist policing.”
The letter, sent to Mayorkas and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tae Johnson, takes issue with a Feb. 18 interim enforcement memo, which the lawmakers argue needs changing.
Getting into specifics, they identified three flaws with it.
First, they argued that “the memorandum does not adequately protect the interests of the asylum seekers” by classifying any immigrant who unlawfully entered the country after Nov. 1, 2020, as “a border security enforcement and removal priority.”
“This blanket presumption will effectively mean detaining an untold number of people who have fled persecution,” the letter continued.
Second, the group takes issue with the definition of “aggravated felony,” specifically how individuals convicted of one are automatically “a public safety enforcement and removal priority.”
“This definition of ‘aggravated felonies’ is itself flawed — a relic of the racist War on Drugs — and should not guide the agency’s enforcement priorities,” the group continued.
“‘Aggravated felonies’ as a category have been designed to ensure that people have as few rights as possible to fight detention and deportation,” they later added.
Lastly, the Democrats questioned current guidance prioritizing deportation of anyone convicted of an offense where an element of the crime involved “active participation” in a gang.
The guidance also applied to anyone over the age of 16 who “intentionally participated” in a gang.
Leaving ICE to determine what qualifies as an “element,” the group noted, could lead to it being applied too broadly.
The reason, they said: bias from law enforcement against minorities.
As a result, the group argued that deciding whether someone has been involved in gang activity “should not be left to an officer’s discretion or ‘good faith belief.’”
“It is well documented that law enforcement’s practices of labelling people as gang-involved is often faulty, based on arbitrary and racist factors, and not subject to due process,” the lawmakers wrote.
Reps for the White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the letter.
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