Vice President Kamala Harris has denied claims that President Joe Biden appointed her as "border czar" shortly after assuming office in 2021, although Republicans claim her history is being rewritten. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) recently wrote to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanding all correspondence referring to Harris as "having any formal or informal clearance, approval, or stakeholder input on Departmental decisions" regarding the border.
Rep. Gaetz cited a March 2021 article from BBC about Harris's appointment by President Biden to handle the surge in illegal immigration as a result of reversing the policies of former President Donald Trump.
"She's the most qualified person to do it, to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle [Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador], and the countries that are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks - stemming the migration to our southern border," said Biden at the time.
As a result, Rep. Gaetz said this was equivalent to Harris being a "border czar" and thus demanded all correspondence within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and between Harris or the Office of the Vice President between March 2021 and March 2022, where she is referred to as "czar" or "lead" in any discussions about the border or immigration.
However, Voice of America suggested that calling the Vice President "border czar" is something of a stretch. While it acknowledges Harris's assignment of "reducing migration to the U.S. southern border and collaborating with Central American nations to address the root causes of migration through diplomacy, development, and investment," this does not equate to her being in charge of the border.
"She was never named a border czar. In fact, the border was not her priority issue at all. The border was the responsibility of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She was never in charge of the border per se," as senior immigration and border adviser Theresa Cardinal Brown put it.
Regardless, such a claim is part of the broader Republican allegation that Harris's record and image are being rewritten and whitewashed ahead of November to increase her appeal to voters.
"You are seeing certain press groups out there changing their own articles about Kamala Harris and about her not being the border czar. So, the attempt to dress her in pretty clothes and put lipstick on a failed vice president is very aggressive, and I think you are going to see it spread all over the place. However, people are not that stupid, and more importantly, they understand their personal situation," said Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL).
"And now what you see is all the arteries of the left, the corporate media, Hollywood, [and] academia, they are using all the king's horses and all the king's men to try to put the Democratic Party back together again, and they have to whitewash Harris's background to make her palpable to the American people," said Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
