Kamala Harris Faces Criticism Over Migration Policy as Presidential Campaign Heats Up.
Kamala Harris’s attempts to address the root causes of migration have become a significant liability as she campaigns for the presidency.
As vice president, Harris was tasked with tackling issues contributing to rising migration from Central America to the United States. Her goals included fighting corruption, attracting investment, strengthening the rule of law, promoting human rights, and combating organized crime.
Three years later, the results of her efforts are limited. Although the initiatives were not designed for immediate results, immigration from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador—the countries Harris focused on—fluctuated before the Biden administration implemented an executive order in June to limit asylum claims. This order has slowed the influx of newcomers. Critics have noted that immigration increased in the early months of this year after declining in the previous fiscal years.
This perceived failure has haunted Harris since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Polls from Bloomberg News and Morning Consult indicate that immigration is the second most important issue for voters, following the economy. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have targeted Harris on this issue.
Risa Grais-Targow, director for Latin America at Eurasia Group, said, “Despite the policy’s intent to reduce migration, we still see significant flows of immigrants from those countries.” She noted that efforts to promote transparency in the region sometimes strained relationships with local leaders, leading the administration to prioritize investment over other goals.
When Harris was assigned this role in June 2021, the aim was to improve the civic framework in Central America, making life better and reducing the desire to migrate to the U.S. This approach sought to reassure moderate Democrats while avoiding alienation of progressives, who opposed harsh immigration measures during the Trump administration.
Supporters of Harris argue that her focus was limited to three countries and not the entire immigration system. They believe her efforts are significant and will yield long-term benefits. They point to decreases in outward migration in areas where investments have created jobs and note an increase in foreign direct investment in the region due to White House initiatives.
Jordi Amaral, a researcher who runs Migration Brief, stated, “She managed to engage with the private sector. However, the Root Causes Strategy was always intended to be a long-term solution—it was never going to curb migration immediately.”
The White House announced that it secured $5.2 billion in investment pledges from companies like Meta Platforms, Nestlé, and Target for Central America, which amounts to over 3% of the combined GDP of the countries involved. However, only $1 billion had been deployed by participating organizations as of September 2023, according to a State Department report.
Paulo de Leon, director of Central America Business Intelligence, criticized the outcomes, saying, “In reality, very little has materialized. It was more of an image thing, an expression of political support.”
The White House acknowledges that investment has not progressed as quickly as hoped. However, it claims the Partnership for Central America has created over 20,000 jobs, opened 160,000 bank accounts, and connected 2 million people to the internet in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
While the Root Causes Strategy aimed to enhance government integrity and the rule of law, identifying specific successes in these areas remains difficult. Last year, the U.S. assisted in upholding election results in Guatemala amid local legal challenges. This year, a U.S. delegation advised the Guatemalan government on good governance and infrastructure. U.S. military officials also visited Honduras to discuss security cooperation. Additionally, the U.S. Agency for International Development has launched programs to improve food security and education in Central America.
Despite these efforts, many initiatives have yet to produce concrete results. In some cases, democratic practices have even declined. For instance, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency to conduct mass arrests of criminals, which suspended civil liberties. Similarly, Honduras followed suit under President Xiomara Castro in late 2022. In Guatemala, President Bernardo Arevalo has promised to increase the police force by 12,000 recruits over four years.
Ana Maria Mendez Dardon, Central America director at the Washington Office on Latin America, emphasized the need for U.S. initiatives to democratize regional economies, not just focus on investments.
One notable success from the program was the auto-parts manufacturer Yazaki North America, which opened a $10 million factory in northern Guatemala, creating 1,000 jobs. Despite these achievements, Republicans have criticized Biden and Harris for the over 8 million recorded crossings at U.S. borders since Trump left office. GOP officials advocate for stricter border enforcement but have blocked legislative measures that would direct new funding to the border.
Recent polling indicates that Republican messaging has been effective. A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll found that 53% of swing-state voters trust Trump more to handle immigration, compared to just 37% who trust Harris.
Harris, the daughter of immigrants, has responded by pledging to find bipartisan support for border security during her presidential campaign. At a recent rally in Georgia, she stated, “As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed and I will sign it into law and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.”
Her campaign has indicated that she would uphold Biden’s executive order limiting asylum claims, but she has distanced herself from the policy, not attending its announcement or commenting on its continuation.
Trump has pledged to lead the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history and to involve local police in border enforcement. He also vows to finish building the border wall, a central theme of his 2016 campaign. He often equates undocumented migrants with criminals, asserting that they are “poisoning the blood” of the country.
Looking ahead, a key question is how much cooperation the next U.S. president will receive from Mexico, which has increased its enforcement measures to reduce the number of migrants reaching the U.S. border. Much of this effort is focused near Mexico’s border with Guatemala, where authorities have heightened highway checkpoints and rounded up migrants in the north.
President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum will take office in October, but her plans appear similar to those of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In June, she discussed migration and other topics with White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall.
Despite U.S. efforts in Central America, Border Patrol encounters with citizens from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were at 29,077 in May, slightly higher than when Biden and Harris took office. Numbers dipped to 24,120 in June as Biden’s new asylum restrictions took effect.
Mendez Dardon from WOLA remarked, “The U.S. has tried for decades to promote economic prosperity in the region, but unfortunately, these efforts have not successfully prevented irregular migration.” The allure of the American dream remains strong, particularly in rural areas with limited economic opportunities.
She concluded, “These measures haven’t had the impact Harris expected because they aren’t necessarily linked to the realities in the region.”