HOUSTON — Our KHOU 11 VERIFY Team looked into whether the vice president is truly the borders czar.
The references to Harris as the border czar are practically everywhere. It's even in a U.S. House resolution filed by a Texas congressman in March of 2023. This all started at a White House meeting about immigration on March 24th, 2021. One of two announcements made by President Biden is assigning the handling of the border to Harris.
"It's not her full responsibility on the job," Biden said back then. "But she's leading the effort."
So is Kamala Harris, the border czar of the Biden administration? Our sources are the White House, the University of Houston, and Rice University.
"There is no question that Kamala Harris was named border czar," said Rice University professor Mark Jones. "However, I think there is some doubt regarding what actual influence she's had on Biden administration border policy over the course of the past three years."
Jones added that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas who's actually running the day-to-day operations at the border based on the Biden administration's policies.
So is Kamala Harris the border czar of the Biden administration?
Our sources say that the answer needs context.
As UH Professor Brandon Rottinghaus shared via email, "There are technically czars in the White House, personnel who have a single administrative policy task. What Harris did as VP is more of a diplomatic assignment as a VP, rather than a full-fledged policy role. But she was clearly intended to be the point person for the immigration issue."
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