For her first major task as VP, Kamala Harris is handed a thorny diplomatic mission

WASHINGTON — When President Biden charged his vice president with solving the “root causes” of the current migrant crisis at the southern border, she responded with surprising equanimity — and a smile.

“I gave you a tough job,” Biden said, a bit incredulous, as he announced her new role in front of a crush of reporters in the White House State Dining Room late last month. “And you’re smiling.”

Kamala Harris’s first major mission as vice president is not one a lot of politicians would be happy to receive. She’s been deputized to own arguably the most politically thorny issue the administration has on its plate, as Republican lawmakers rush to the border to decry an uptick in unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. Decades of failed attempts to overhaul the nation’s immigration system by administrations of both parties litter her way.

“Look it’s a huge problem, I’m not going to pretend it’s not,” Harris said in a CBS interview on March 24 in which she pleaded for some patience from the public. “We’re dealing with it, but it’s going to take some time.

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