Claims that Vice President Harris is Biden’s ‘border czar’ are misleading

During their time in office, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have faced criticism from many Republican lawmakers over their handling of border security. 

Attacks on Harris, who is the Democratic party’s presumptive presidential nominee, have ramped up in recent weeks. Many recent online posts from those who are critical of Harris refer to her as Biden’s “border czar.” Their claims suggest that Harris was put in charge of overseeing immigration enforcement at the southern border and managing the flow of migrants into the U.S. 

In a Truth social post, former President Donald Trump also called Harris the “border czar” and said she gave the country “the worst and most dangerous border anywhere in the world,” implying she was put in charge of security and immigration policy at the southern border.

But some Democrats, like U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), have rejected these claims. In a post on X shared on July 26, Murphy wrote, “VP Harris was not made ‘border czar.’ That’s made up.”

Multiple VERIFY readers asked us about the claims that Harris is in charge of security at the southern border as Biden’s “border czar.”

THE QUESTION

Does Vice President Kamala Harris serve as President Biden’s “border czar”?

THE SOURCES

• White House fact sheet about “Root Causes” Strategy published on July 29, 2021
• Vice President Kamala Harris’ remarks from April 14, 2021
• Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ remarks from June 25, 2021
• Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications and public affairs for the Migration Policy Institute
• Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council

THE ANSWER

Claims about Harris serving as Biden’s “border czar” are misleading. Harris was not put in charge of overseeing immigration policy or security at the southern border. Instead, she was tasked with addressing social and political issues that cause people to leave certain Central American countries for the U.S.

WHAT WE FOUND

President Joe Biden did not put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of overseeing immigration policy or security at the southern border, or managing the flow of migrants into the U.S, as the claims about her role as “border czar” suggest. Instead, she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration from three Central American countries to the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for overseeing border security and managing the border, as the agency’s Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has emphasized in the past. DHS and its partner agencies, like U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), protect U.S. borders from the illegal movement of weapons, drugs and people, while promoting legal entry into the country.

“Vice President Harris was not designated the ‘border czar,’ nor was she asked to lead the administration’s work at the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Michelle Mittelstadt, a spokesperson for the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. 

“Border czar” isn’t an official title, Mittelstadt and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said, and it’s one Harris has rejected since 2021. Instead, the title is typically used by media outlets or informally in government circles, Mittelstadt added. 

In the past, media outlets have referred to Rebecca Jacobson, a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, as Biden’s “border czar.” Jacobson’s role was different from Harris’ work; she served as the coordinator for the southwest border at the National Security Council before stepping down in April 2021.

Some media outlets, including Axios, incorrectly referred to Harris as the "border czar" in 2021 and later retracted their reporting.

Harris was actually tasked in 2021 with leading the Biden administration’s Root Causes Strategy. That strategy aims to address some of the key reasons why people want to leave Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and ultimately reduce the number of people from those countries who seek asylum or better opportunities in the U.S. It’s focused on key issues such as economic insecurity and inequality, corruption, human rights, violence prevention, and sexual and gender-based violence.

None of these countries border the United States. 

Reichlin-Melnick said “there is no indication” Harris has “ever worked on immigration policy outside of the ‘root causes’ work – which is arguably not even immigration policy, but foreign aid policy.” 

These efforts were “focused well before the border,” Mittelstadt added.

Harris began leading the Biden administration’s “diplomatic efforts to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras” in March 2021, the White House said in a July 2021 fact sheet about the Root Causes Strategy. 

In remarks during a virtual roundtable discussion in April 2021, Harris reaffirmed that her work was focused on the root causes of migration in Central America’s Northern Triangle – not border security.

“So, as I mentioned to the experts, the President has asked Secretary Mayorkas to address what is going on at the border. And he has been working very hard at that and it’s showing some progress because of his hard work,” a transcript of her remarks says. “I have been asked to lead the issue of dealing with root causes in the Northern Triangle, similar to what then-Vice President [Biden] did many years ago.”

Several months later, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also reiterated the difference between Harris’ work and his agency’s efforts to manage and secure the border.

“The Vice President is leading our nation’s efforts to address the root causes — that fundamental question of why people leave their homes. And it is my responsibility as the Secretary of Homeland Security to address the security and management of our border,” Mayorkas said in June 2021.

The White House provided an update on the Root Causes Strategy in March 2024, touting the administration’s work to create job opportunities, support education, ensure labor rights, and combating migrant smuggling and human trafficking in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. 

It’s difficult to say whether the Root Causes Strategy has directly contributed to curbing migration from these three Central American countries. But data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show border encounters with people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras declined from more than 700,000 in fiscal year 2021 to fewer than 500,000 in fiscal year 2023.