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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz joined New Hampshire Republicans in slamming Vice President Kamala Harris for visiting the Granite State before traveling to the southern border.
“GPS got confused….” the Texas Republican wrote on Twitter of news that Harris was traveling to the northern border state.
“Montreal is going to invade,” Cruz added in a separate tweet.
Both Cruz and Harris have some history in Canada. Cruz, 50, was born in Calgary, where his parents lived before moving to Texas when he was a young child. Harris, 56, spent part of her youth in Montreal while her mother was working at a hospital there.
Harris’ visit to New Hampshire was her first since 2019, when she was still a U.S. senator from California running for president.
The state’s Republicans were quick to call the vice president out for visiting the state — where Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan is expected to face a tough race in 2022 — before she’s traveled to the southern border amid the ongoing immigration crisis.
“Welcome to the #WrongBorder, [Vice President Kamala Harris]!” the New Hampshire GOP wrote on Twitter. “As you travel over 2,300 miles away from El Paso, our country would be better served with an official visit to our southern border, not a campaign trip for [Hassan].”
Neither Harris nor President Biden — who appointed Harris last month to be the point person in dealing with the growing crisis — have scheduled a trip to the border region. Harris also has not held a news conference to address questions about her new role.
The White House has emphasized that Harris is tasked with addressing the “root causes” of migration.
During a roundtable on the Northern Triangle on Thursday, Harris said the main challenge in dealing with the crisis is “addressing the acute and root causes of migration away from that region, the reasons people flee.”
The vice president said that most of the migrants fleeing to America “don’t want to leave home” and listed reasons as to why people are illegally immigrating to America.
“We are looking at extensive storm damage because of extreme climate, we’re looking at drought in an area in a region where agriculture is one of the most traditionally important basis for their economy,” Harris said. “We’re looking at what’s happening in terms of food scarcity as a result of that and in fact, incredible food insecurity, which we used to call hunger, food insecurity.”
Harris will meet virtually with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other top officials next month to discuss root issues. Harris will meet on Monday with Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei.
Harris has previously spoken with both leaders.
In addition, Harris plans to travel in June to the Northern Triangle region of Central America, Fox News has learned. But the precise itinerary for the vice president was unclear. The region includes Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Republicans have blamed the liberalization of immigration and border policy by the Biden administration for the surge that has seen more than 172,000 migrants encountered in March along — including record numbers of unaccompanied children that have overwhelmed border facilities and led to images of packed children side-by-side in centers.
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