During a July 9 campaign rally in Doral, Florida, 2024 Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump claimed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has never gone to the border.
Verdict: Misleading
The claim is misleading. Harris visited a border facility in El Paso, Texas in June 2021, according to multiple media outlets.
Fact Check:
A new advertisement from the Republican National Convention criticized Harris’ role in the U.S. “border crisis,” according to the New York Post.
During his July 9 campaign rally, Trump claimed Harris has never gone to the border. “She’s never showed up. She’s never gone. She never went there once. And the border is the worst border in the history of the world,” Trump said.
The claim is misleading. In June 2021, The Texas Tribune reported Harris had visited the El Paso Border Patrol station and the El Paso del Norte Port of Entry on her “first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border as vice president.” During the four-hour trip, Harris “met with representatives of non-governmental organizations that help immigrants,” the outlet indicated. Joining Harris on the trip were U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Texas Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar. (RELATED: Fact-Checking Joe Biden’s ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference)
A June 2021 opinion piece from The Daily Beast also noted that Harris had visited the facility in El Paso but noted that “the real action is 800 miles away in the Rio Grande Valley.”
“If Harris had been politically brave enough to visit the U.S.-Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas — where you find the agents who act as the first responders to the migration crisis — she would have gotten a first-hand look and left with a whole different perspective,” the piece states.
In addition, various national and local media outlets, including CNN, NPR, the El Paso Times, BBC News, and The Washington Post, all reported Harris had visited the border amid her trip to the El Paso facility at the time. In their article covering Harris’ trip, CNN reported the Democratic Vice President once again emphasized addressing the “root causes of migration.”
“Being in Guatemala, being in Mexico, and talking with Mexico as a partner, frankly on the issue, was about addressing the causes. And then coming to the border at the advice and actually the invitation of the congresswoman, is about looking at the effects of what we have seen happening in Central America, and so I’m glad to be here. This was always the plan to come here,” Harris said, according to the outlet.
Before her trip to El Paso, Harris discussed a trip she made to Guatemala to address the “root causes” of migration during a June 2021 interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt. Harris also responded to Holt’s question on whether or not she would visit the border.
“I’m here in Guatemala today,” Harris began, adding, “At some point, we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.”
“Listen, I care what’s happening at the border. I’m in Guatemala because my focus is dealing with the root causes of migration. There may be some that think that’s not important, but it is my firm belief that if we care about what’s happening at the border, we better care about the root causes and address them. So that’s what I’m doing,” Harris continued when Holt pointed out that she specifically had not been to the border.
In March 2021, The Associated Press reported President Joe Biden had chosen Harris to be his border czar and tackle immigration issues.
Check Your Fact has contacted the White House and a Trump spokesperson for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received. Check Your Fact also contacted the Biden campaign, which deferred to the White House.