Kamala Harris visits US-Mexico border amid migrant policy scrutiny

US vice president says if people 'stopped the rhetoric' on immigration, more could be done

US Vice President Kamala Harris tours the US Customs and Border Protection Central Processing Centre in El Paso, Texas. AP

Vice President Kamala Harris met federal agents and unaccompanied migrant children on Friday at the southern US border as part of a trip to demonstrate the Biden administration's commitment to "orderly and humane" immigration policies.

The brief but closely watched visit by President Joe Biden's deputy came after her mission this month to Central America and Mexico, where she addressed the root causes of the migration crisis that have led to a surge in undocumented people seeking entry to the US.

Republican critics had hammered Ms Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, for failing to visit the US-Mexico border for an on-the-ground assessment, and then making comments that appeared to play down the crisis.

The vice president's trip also comes days before a visit to the border by Mr Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, who has told that the current administration's more humane approach to immigration was provoking rather than preventing a crisis.

"It was always the plan to come here," she told reporters after landing in El Paso, Texas.

Ms Harris, whom Mr Biden tasked with overseeing efforts to address the migration crisis, said she believed the White House policies were working.

"The president and I are absolutely committed to ensuring that our immigration system is orderly and humane, and I do believe that we are making progress in that regard," she said.

She also stressed that border issues must be addressed in a way that is "informed by fact and informed by reality" if they are to be resolved in a productive way.

Ms Harris spoke with young migrant girls who were being processed at a Customs and Border Protection port of entry centre, then met immigration advocates and border patrol agents as she toured a processing centre.

While her trip to Guatemala and Mexico was aimed at addressing issues such as a lack of economic opportunity, excessive violence and corruption, and fear of drug cartels, Ms Harris said her border trip served to "reinforce" the need to address the nature of those causes or face a continued border crisis.

She said more could be accomplished if people "stopped the rhetoric" on the issue.

But in a remark that quickly earned rebukes from conservatives, Veronica Escobar, a Democratic congresswoman who represents El Paso, stood next to Ms Harris while comparing the southern border to what was once the busiest immigration point in the US.

"Welcome to El Paso. to the new Ellis Island," Ms Escobar said.