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Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Texas abortion ban during a question-and-answer session in Austin, but made no mention of the migrant crisis sweeping the Lone State. guy in Austin, Texas, but found time to call Texas abortion laws “immoral.”
Harris, 57, was speaking at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library when she labeled Governor Greg Abbott’s near-ban on abortion as “immoral.”
“The idea that there would be a policy and approach that would say to someone who has survived an extreme act of violence and violation,” she said.
Harris continued: “[That] you don’t have the autonomy, the authority when it comes to your body just going through that act to make a decision about what happens to your body next is immoral.”
The former California Attorney General doubled down, saying, “It’s really immoral. The government should not make this decision for her. It’s definitely about freedom. It’s about freedom.’
Vice President Kamala Harris pictured in the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library on October 8
The entire conversation lasted about 40 minutes, during which time the issue of the southern border crisis was not raised. Here migrants are shown after crossing the Rio Bravo
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures show that in August the total number of encounters with migrants reached more than 2 million in fiscal year 2022 – a record high
The entire conversation lasted about 40 minutes, during which time the issue of the southern border crisis was not raised.
Texas Customs and Border Patrol agents have intercepted millions of migrants trying to cross so far this year, criticizing Harris and President Biden for their poor handling of the crisis.
The event was billed as a discussion of “the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to protecting reproductive rights.”
Harris spoke with pro-abortion group NARAL President Mini Timmaraju and Julieta Garibay, senior capacity building director for Groundswell Fund.
This week, President Joe Biden marked 100 days since the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade by criticizing states that have curtailed abortion rights and announcing $6 million in health care funding.
He announced the new guidelines and the federal grants at a meeting of the Reproductive Rights Task Force, also attended by Vice President Harris, at the White House.
In his comments, he described how abortion rights have been curtailed since the Supreme Court ruling.
Harris arrives at the Austin airport with Travis County Judge Andy Brown (L) and Austin Mayor Steve Adler (R)
Harris speaks with the Texas Democratic Party at the Johnson-Jordan reception at the Hyatt Regency Austin hours after making her abortion remarks
After leaving the presidential library, Harris attended a Texas Democratic Party fundraiser, where she delivered a keynote address.
That meeting is designed to raise money for things such as “assistance with postal voting, voter protection efforts, community organization, direct contact with voters and more,” a press release said.
It is Harris’ second trip to Texas in 30 days. In September, the vice president delivered a speech at the National Baptist Convention and at NASA in Houston.
While Texas is known as a very conservative state, its three major cities – Dallas, Houston, and the state capital of Austin – are all very liberal.
At the time, Republican government leader Greg Abbott was addressing Harris’ decision not to visit the border.
Our presumed border czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure’. is,” he said. .
“Texas will continue to send migrants to refuges like Washington, DC, until President Biden and border czar Harris stand up and do their job to secure the border.”
This week, a busload of migrants was dropped off at Harris’ home at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC
GOP governor says they are taking the migrants to so-called sanctuary towns to give areas preaching about welcoming migrants a taste of the pressure the influx is putting on local services.
At dawn on Thursday, a bus stopped near Harris’ home where more than two dozen migrants disembarked and were greeted by relief and volunteer groups.
The migrants were then boarded on smaller buses and transported to nearby accommodations.
Republican Senator John Cornyn posted Harris’s schedule on Twitter, adding: ‘No time for the border, apparently’
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez said he was on the southern border while Harris spoke in Austin
Prior to their arrival in Texas, prominent conservatives in the Lone Star state pressured Harris to visit the border.
On the day of her appearance in Austin, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez posted a photo on Twitter that read, “Here at the border. Where is Kamala?’
While Senator John Cornyn posted Harris’ timetable during her visit to Texas, there was “no time left for the border,” the Republican said.
On Thursday, Macarena Martinez, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said of Harris’s trip: “The vice president needs to rethink her travel plans and visit the southern border she’s been so happy to neglect.”
Shortly after taking office, Harris was tasked with tackling the migration crisis, which quickly transformed her office into a role that sought to look at the root causes that lead people to leave their homelands to migrate north and seek asylum in The United States.
Republicans have criticized Harris for doing nothing to suppress migration on the southern border — and have criticized Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
CBP figures released last month brought the number of meetings in fiscal year 2022 to more than 2.1 million, a huge record – and there’s one month of reporting left in the year.
This represents a 437 percent increase from the same point in fiscal year 2020.
There was also a 279 percent increase in meetings from fiscal year 2020 to 2021 — the last year of President Donald Trump’s term and the first year of the Biden administration.