Okay, fine: Vice President Kamala Harris never held an official government title called “border czar.” But the media fact checkers and partisan fans who have zeroed in on separating her from that euphemistic title — as though this silly contest over rhetoric absolves her of responsibility for the worst mass migration crisis in American history — does not cut the anchor line.
The president of the United States assigned Harris to “lead the effort” of the administration’s signature border security strategy, the main one he chose above all others, for ending mass illegal immigration over the southern border. That strategy was to alleviate the so-called “root causes”spurring outmigration from its most common sources — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, also known as the Northern Triangle.
The president and his top lieutenants regarded the root-causes doctrine — which calls for nation-building to induce aspiring emigrants to stay home instead — as central to his entire border-management strategy and found Harris a highly willing, eager root causes chief.
“I look forward to engaging in diplomacy with government, with private sector, with civil society, and … the leaders of each in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, and ensure shared prosperity in the region,” Harris responded after her presidential appointment at a March 24, 2021, press event announcing her new role.
A few months later, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated that Harris would lead a “whole-of-government approach” to “lead the Administration’s work on
