It’s beautiful to see infighting among the ranks but you need to wonder if it’s just a distraction. Wasn’t Biden set on flooding the United States with immigrants to hopefully encourage more Democrats? But that begs the question, since Democrats still cheat if there isn’t enough votes. It was also counter productive to keep COVID-19 at bay. What is Kamala’s sudden reversal all about, simple chaos and confusion?
When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually sounds smart
You know something might be going on. It makes sense that people would flee war torn countries for relative safety here. “We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing,” she said.
A little infighting came from humanitarian advocacy groups too. We’re a nation of immigrants. Turning people away could result in people being hurt or killed.
.@VP Kamala Harris, seeking asylum is legal. Turning back asylum seekers is illegal, dangerous, & oftentimes sends them back to their deaths. Seeking asylum is a right under US and international law. #WelcomeWithDignity https://t.co/3UcJyALhlW
— Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) (@asylumadvocacy) June 7, 2021
Kamala Harris
Was blunt while standing next to the Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. “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.” Curiously, she tried to make the distinction between legal and illegal immigration. Republicans have been emphasizing the difference for years. Democrats ignore that.
Refugees International was among the humanitarian advocacy groups involved in the infighting, wondering what was going on. Rachel Schmidtke is the Latin America advocate for that organization. “We continue to urge the Biden administration to build policies that recognize that many Guatemalans will need to seek protection until the long-standing drivers of forced displacement are addressed and realign its message to the Guatemalan people to reflect America’s commitment to the right to seek protection internationally.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued
With the infighting. “The U.S. spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. It would be helpful if the U.S. would finally acknowledge its contributions to destabilization and regime change in the region. Doing so can help us change U.S. foreign policy, trade policy, climate policy, and carceral border policy to address causes of mass displacement and migration.” Harris replied that we need to “deal with the root causes and that’s my focus. Period.”
Biden said the administration would “deploy homeland security officers to Guatemala’s northern and southern borders to train local officials—a tactic similar to one used by previous administrations to deter migration.” They would “outline an investment of $48 million in entrepreneurship programs, affordable housing and agricultural businesses in Guatemala, part of a four-year, $4 billion plan to invest in the region. Ms. Harris last month touted commitments from a dozen private companies, including Mastercard and Microsoft, to develop the economy in Central America.” The infighting happens clear to the top. It remains to be seen if this help actually goes where it needs to. The Guatemalan government has it’s share of corruption too.
In @DrGiammattei and @VP press conference, when Guatemalan president asked about TPS for Guatemalans, he says he reiterated request – "we need them to help us to stop deportation for some time" (per transcripts) then passes: "Madam?" VP Harris doesn't answer. pic.twitter.com/6QnW44SpQm
— Molly O'Toole (@mollymotoole) June 7, 2021
Kamala helping to create chaos
Democrats roll well in this. Infighting maybe part of the strategy. When the Guatemalan President asked if Harris would shield immigrants by giving them temporary protected status, she didn’t answer.
She responded but didn’t answer the question. Kamala, why are you disrespecting a foreign leader that supposedly has a relatively similar government to ours? Those people might need protection.
