Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee announced on Friday a field hearing in California on what they call the "Biden-Harris Border Crisis."
The hearing will take place next Friday, September 6, at Santee City Hall's Council Chambers, and seeks to "examine the effects of the current southwest border crisis on California's residents and communities." Witnesses have not been announced as of yet, with the official document saying they will be revealed at a later date.
🚨 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀 🚨
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) August 30, 2024
𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: House Judiciary Committee field hearing on "The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: California Perspectives"
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: Friday, September 6, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. PDT
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: Santee City Hall Council Chambers, 10601… pic.twitter.com/BxztF9y7h0
The announcement is part of a push by Republicans to turn unlawful immigration into a political liability for Democrats and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Earlier this month, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer requested U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide documents related to communications with Harris. The deadline to do so passed last week, not being clear if the body complied.
The request, according to Comer, seeks to "understand Vice President Harris' role in the worst border crisis in American history."
CBP was required to share any and all communications and documents with Harris' executive office in relation to the southwest border. "It is unclear what actions, if any, Vice President Harris has taken to fix the border crisis. Rather, she has claimed that '[w]e have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation.' The Committee seeks to understand whether Vice President Harris has 'done anything' to address the worst border crisis in American history," Comer said in mid-August when spearheading the request.
Harris, like President Joe Biden before her, has adopted a tougher approach to the issue. In an interview with CNN this week, she doubled down on many of the issues that were once considered political vulnerabilities.
Throughout the conversation, Harris stood by the Biden administration's record, choosing not to distance herself from him on issues where the public sees him as a weakness.
One of those key issues is immigration. Following an unprecedented rise in unauthorized migrant crossings through the U.S.-Mexico border, the Biden administration has come under fire for their seemingly lenient policies. Republicans— led by former President Donald Trump— have also taken the opportunity to dub the Vice President as the "border czar" due to her prior involvement in dealing with the "root causes" of immigration.
But instead of focusing on potential weaknesses, Harris decided to turn the conversation to Trump, blaming him for killing a bipartisan deal earlier this year that would have increased funding for the border and potentially helped crossings decrease.
"Through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support. And Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border and because he believed it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, 'Don't put it forward'." Harris said.
But despite that bipartisan bill failing in the Senate, migrant apprehensions at the border have drastically fallen throughout the year, which the Vice President surprisingly did not emphasize. Crossings have fallen by over 80% compared to their peak in December, with figures dropping below 60,000 in July.
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