Vice President Kamala Harris said twice that the US’s southern border is “secure” during an interview on Sunday, despite the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who regularly cross into the country each month. During an interview on “Meet the Press” that aired on the 21st anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Harris was asked by NBC News anchor Chuck Todd if the border is secure. The vice president responded that the immigration system was “broken” under the Trump administration and still “needs to be fixed.” “I think there’s no question that we need to do what Congress and I have asked, the first request we’ve made: pass a bill to create a pathway to citizenship,” Harris said. “The border is secure, but we also have a broken immigration system, especially the last four years before we came in, and it needs to be fixed.” Todd disputed Harris’ claim that the border is secure. Vice President Kamala Harris raised eyebrows by declaring the border “secure” despite a flood of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. (Ron Sachs/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images) NUMBER OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTERED SINCE BIDEN TOOK TOWARDS TWO MILLION “We’re going to have two million people cross this border for the first time. Are you sure this border is secure?” Todd asked. “We have secure borders, as that is a priority for every nation, including our own and our administration,” Harris replied. “But there are still many problems that we are trying to fix given the deterioration that has happened in the last four years. We also need to put in place a law and a plan for a pathway to citizenship for the millions of people who are here and are ready to do what is required by law to obtain citizenship.” “We don’t have that in place because people play politics in a state like this and in Congress,” she added, referring to Texas. “By the way, you want to talk about bipartisanship on an issue that used to be a bipartisan issue for both Republican senators and presidents.” Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the 142nd annual session of the National Baptist Convention in Houston, Sept. 8, 2022. (Bob Daemmerich/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Harris, who visited the Lone Star State last week for a series of events, was put in charge of dealing with the border crisis by President Biden shortly after taking office in 2021. Meanwhile, the number of immigrant encounters at the southern border has surpassed two million this fiscal year, surpassing the already historic 1.7 million encounters last year, as Border Patrol agents grapple with an immigration crisis unprecedented in U.S. history and a which the Biden administration has so far failed to slow. Vice President Harris’ claim that the border is “secure” comes despite estimates that nearly two million immigrants have crossed into the US illegally during the Biden administration. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Officials estimated to Fox News Digital in July that more than 500,000 illegals were known to have passed agents in FY22 so far but have been detected by cameras or other sensors. There have been about 55,000 so-called “runaways” each month this fiscal year, and that number doesn’t include people who haven’t been tracked by the technology. The number also adds to the 389,155 known escapes that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas previously testified existed throughout FY21. Migrants rest after crossing the Rio Grande as they await arrest by border patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, on June 30, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images) However, the White House is trying to paint the border crisis as under control. White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre came under fire last month after she claimed the people were not entering the country illegally. “It doesn’t work that way,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Those who have entered illegally have typically been deported if encountered by ICE. However, the Biden administration placed restrictions on the agency, limiting them to focus on recent border crossers and threats to national security and public safety. That guidance has since been blocked by court order, but arrests and deportations have plummeted under the Biden administration. In FY21, ICE arrested 74,082 noncitizens and deported 59,011 — up from 103,603 arrests and 185,884 removals in FY20 and 143,099 arrests and 267,258 removals in FY19. Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin of Fox News contributed to this report. Jessica Chasmar is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @JessicaChasmar.
