Governor Greg Abbott has once again voiced his discontent with Vice President Kamala Harris regarding what he terms her "yearslong border failure." Backtracking to an initiative three years prior, Governor Abbott had reached out to Vice President Harris shortly after her appointment as the so-called Border Czar, a role tasked with addressing immigration and border issues. In his communication, he urged her to address several pressing issues, including the harsh realities of human trafficking and the fate of unaccompanied minors. According to a recent statement obtained by Texas Government News, Abbott highlighted that despite the urgency of his letter, "tens of thousands" of unaccompanied minors remain unaccounted for with potential child trafficking victims exposed to grave danger.
Abbott has remained steadfast in his criticism of Harris's response to the burgeoning crisis at the border. "More than 11 million illegal immigrants have entered our country," Abbott stated, underscoring a number significantly higher than the population of Houston. In the same breath, crossing the border illegally, he pointed out 383 terrorists apprehended. The Governor has accused the Vice President of failing to enact measures that could have potentially prevented tragedies, alluding to the death of Jocelyn Nungaray and the wounding of a San Antonio police officer, both incidents he attributes to violent illegal immigrants.
Amidst political tension and rising concern over immigration policy, Vice President Harris is slated to visit Texas once more. Abbott is calling on Harris to support the "Justice for Jocelyn Act," which is currently sitting in the United States Senate. There was no mention of Harris's physical presence on the border, and the statement provided by Abbott makes no bones about his views that she has yet to "trouble herself" to witness the crisis firsthand—a point of contention he has raised since her assignment to the role of Border Czar. In a twist, the Vice President, last seen in Texas, has been criticized for insisting that immigrants crossing the border are not criminals. Moreover, the recent statement includes an appeal from the Texas Governor, rallying Vice President Harris to work with U.S. Senators to get the "Justice for Jocelyn Act" passed.
