The U.S.-Mexico border is “secure” even as enforcement agents are contending with a mass influx of illegal immigrants entering the nation’s interior on a daily basis, according to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, who has been tapped by President Joe Biden to oversee matters relating to the border crisis, made the assertion during a recent interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd.
Border arrests are on pace to surpass 2 million for the federal government’s current fiscal year, according to the New York Post.
When asked by Todd if the border was secure, Harris insisted Congress must pass legislation providing a “pathway to citizenship” for those residing in the United States illegally.
“The border is secure,” said Harris. “But we also have a broken immigration system, in particular, over the last four years before [the Biden administration] came in. And it needs to be fixed.”
Todd pressed Harris once more on the question of a secure border, to which the vice president admitted issues still existed surrounding illegal immigration. Outstanding issues regarding the southern border, according to Harris, preceded the current administration.
“We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration,” she said. “But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix, given the deterioration that happened over the last four years.”
“We also have to put in place a law and a plan for a pathway for citizenship for people who are here and are prepared to do what is legally required to gain citizenship.”
Taking exception to the vice president’s claim Tuesday, Alabama U.S. Senate nominee Katie Britt (R) tweeted that the number of illegal immigrants penetrating the southern border constituted “a crisis.”
Vice President Harris can't change the facts. Two million illegal immigrants in a single year isn't a secure border: it's a crisis.
States like Alabama are facing the deadly consequences every day, as fentanyl steals lives and destroys families. #alsenpic.twitter.com/WnlU2DVzlI
— Katie Britt (@KatieBrittforAL) September 12, 2022
As cited by Britt, the Yellowhammer State continues to experience the lethal affects of fentanyl flooding the illicit drug market.
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Fentanyl-related overdose deaths in the state rose from 453 to 1,069 during the timeframe of 2020-2021, according to the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.
Britt will face progressive Democratic Party U.S. Senate nominee Will Boyd in the Nov. 8 general election for the seat held by retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa).
Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
