House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., launched an investigation into Vice President Kamala Harris to ascertain whether she has "done anything" to address the "border crisis" in her 3 1/2 years on the job as President Joe Biden's border czar.
Comer began his probe with a letter sent Tuesday to the senior official performing the duties of the commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Troy Miller. Comer is inquiring whether Harris had any communication with CBP about the southern border.
"It is unclear what actions, if any, Vice President Harris has taken to fix the border crisis," Comer wrote. "One Border Patrol agent noted Vice President Harris is 'the border czar and has been remotely close to the border once in four years.' Another claimed the Vice President 'hasn't literally done anything' and stated, 'she came to the border once and we sanitized all the aliens out of there to make it look good.'"
Comer was citing a New York Post report from two weeks ago, quoting border agents about Harris' efforts.
"The Committee seeks to understand whether Vice President Harris has 'done anything' to address the worst border crisis in American history," he wrote.
Further, Comer quoted Harris talking about "root causes" of illegal migration to the U.S. when she was given the role of border czar by Biden in March 2021.
"[W]e also understand that we will enforce the law and that we also — because we can chew gum and walk at the same time — must address the root causes that — that cause people to make the trek, as the President has described, to come here," Harris said in remarks on March 24, 2021.
"Instead of focusing on the southwest border, through which millions of illegal aliens have been let into the country by the Biden-Harris Administration, Vice President Harris focused on the purported 'root causes of irregular migration' from Central America," Comer wrote. "Central to Vice President Harris's root causes initiative is an effort 'to provide $4 billion to the region over four years." Vice President Harris has traveled to Central America — to Mexico and Guatemala in 2021 and to Honduras in 2022 — more than she has traveled to our own southern border."
Comer's letter comes nearly two weeks after six Democrats joined House Republicans in "strongly condemning" Harris for her failure to secure the border.
That resolution, introduced by House Republican Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., asserted that neither Harris nor Biden had ever had a conversation with current U.S. Border Patrol chief Jason Owens or his predecessor, Raul Ortiz.