Kamala Harris visited Guatemala in her first foreign trip as vice president.- At a Monday news conference, Harris told Guatemalan
migrants "do not come" to the US. - "The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border," she said.
Vice President Kamala Harris told had a blunt message for prospective migrants during a Monday news conference in Guatemala.
"I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come," Harris said during her first international trip as vice president.
She added, "The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border."
Harris doubled down on the Biden administration's stance that migrants would need to find a legal pathway to the US and would be turned away if they approached the border.
The administration plans to build on existing programs to make moving to the US easier and cheaper.
The number of migrants arriving at the US border has spiked since President Joe Biden took office, including hundreds of unaccompanied minors.
Biden has pushed back on claims the surge was tied to his being "a nice guy," a reference to contrasting perceptions with former President Donald Trump's handling of
In March, Biden attributed the increase instead to weather and natural disasters in South America. He also blamed the limited viable legal pathways under Trump.
"He dismantled all the elements that exist to deal with what had been a problem, and has been continuing to be a problem for a long time," Biden said. "What we're doing now is attempting to rebuild the system that can accommodate what is happening today."
During her trip, Harris also spoke about corruption in the region and announced the creation of a task force that would work with local prosecutors. The task force will consist of officials from the Justice Department, the State Department, and the Treasury Department.
"We are creating this task force to address corruption, to address human smuggling, doing the work to make sure certain progress be made if we are going to attract investment," Harris said. She added that corruption was a reason many were coming to the US and said she wanted to restore a "sense of hope" so people didn't flee their homelands.
"Most people don't want to leave where their grandmother lives," Harris said. "When they do," she said, it's "because they are fleeing some type of harm, or because to stay means they cannot provide for their essential needs and the needs of their family."