Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Tuesday introduced a resolution that condemns Vice President Kamala Harris for her failures to secure the border after she was designated by President Joe Biden as the "border czar" to address the root causes of illegal immigration into the United States.
"Since her very first day in office, Vice President Harris — President Biden’s designated 'border czar' — has refused to take the national security and safety crisis at our southern border seriously," the Tennessee Republican said in a statement to Newsmax about the resolution.
"The Biden-Harris administration has presided over more than 10 million illegal border crossings and has released nearly 100 individuals on the terrorist watchlist into our country," she added. "Vice President Harris can run, but she cannot hide from her disastrous record that has killed countless innocent Americans."
After Biden appointed Harris in March 2021 as the "border czar," the now Democratic Party's presidential nominee has "taken no decisive step" to close the border, the senator said.
"[She] did not even visit the southern border until June 25, 2021, 93 days after being named border czar," said Blackburn. "When [she] traveled near the southern border for the first time on June 25, 2021, she decided to travel to El Paso, Texas, which is located 800 miles from the Lower Rio Grande Valley."
Newsmax has reached out to Harris' campaign for comment about Blackburn's resolution.
The Harris campaign has taken several steps to repaint Harris' image concerning the border, including earlier this month releasing a series of advertisements showing her as being tough on the border, which her critics insist she has not been.
Blackburn pointed out that since Biden and Harris took office, there have been more than 9,700,000 illegal immigrant encounters nationwide.
Further, she noted that there have been more than 7,900,000 illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border under their watch and that an estimated 2 million known "got-aways" have evaded Border Patrol agents, more than had escaped the officers "during the entire previous decade."
In comparison, she said, with Harris as the border czar, there were 170,723 illegal immigrant encounters at the United States' southern border in May 2024, a 185% increase from the average May totals while former President Donald Trump, now the GOP presidential nominee, was in office.
"May 2024 was the 39th straight month where monthly illegal immigrant encounters have been higher than the highest month under President Trump," Blackburn said.
Meanwhile, Harris' "refusal" to close the border has been costing lives and has put Americans at risk of terrorist attacks, Blackburn said.
"Illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories who have murdered innocent Americans, including Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungary, Rachel Morin, and others throughout the United States, pose an existential threat to the safety and security of the American people," said Blackburn.
In addition, NBC reported in June that more than 50 illegal immigrants with ties to ISIS were released by Biden administration officials.
"During the Biden administration, more than 350 illegal immigrants with ties to ISIS and whose names appear on the terrorist watch list were stopped while trying to cross the southern border," she said.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has introduced a companion resolution on Harris in the House.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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