By Daniel Stefanski |

The nation’s Border Patrol union is throwing the red flag on Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to the border late last week.

On Friday, Harris visited the border in Douglas, Arizona. After her stop, she posted, “As Attorney General of California, I prosecuted transnational criminal organizations that trafficked guns, drugs, and human beings. I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border. Today, I visited the U.S.-Mexico border and spoke with Customs and Border Protection officials about our progress to secure our border and disrupt the flow of illegal fentanyl into our nation.”

The National Border Patrol Union (NBPC) took exception with many of Harris’ statements on this trip as well as the motivation for her visit. The NBPC “X” account stated, “Vice president Harris has ignored the border problem she created for over three years. She goes down there for 20 minutes for a photo op and decides to repeat some of the things the NPBC has said before. But again, where has she been the last 3 ½ years?”

Former President Donald J. Trump also weighed in on Harris’ visit, saying on Truth Social, “Comrade Kamala Harris, who allowed almost 14,000 MURDERERS to freely and openly roam our Country, is now making a Speech in Douglas, Arizona, trying to say she did an OK job with the Border. She didn’t! She is the Worst Vice President in History, and the Worst Border Czar in History, and people are dying every day because of her. SHE HAS GOT BLOOD ON HER HANDS!”

Before Harris touched down in Arizona, Art Del Cueto, the Vice President of the NBPC, opined on the Vice President’s upcoming trip to the U.S.-Mexico border. On his Instagram account, Del Cueto shared a picture of the border wall in Douglas, Arizona, not far from where the Vice President and Democrat nominee for President of the United States toured on Friday, saying, “This is the border in southern Arizona. This is where the wall stopped because the current administration did not want it to continue. This is where our tax dollars are sitting on the side because the current administration did not care enough about Americans to secure borders. This is where President Trump built the wall during his administration to protect American lives. This is where President Trump will finish the wall so it can continue to be used as a deterrent along with policies and help protect our country.”

Del Cueto added, “This is also not the area where vice president is going to visit because she would have to face the reality that she is part of the chaos we continue to see and she is also part of the administration that stopped building a deterrent that would help our country.”

Harris’ visit to the border marked the first time she has experienced the Arizona section of the international boundary in person as Vice President. A few years ago, Harris visited the border in the El Paso Sector.

In April 2021, then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Harris, inviting her to the southern border. He told Harris that this tour would “provide firsthand insight into what Arizonans, law enforcement officials, and migrants are experiencing.” According to Brnovich, this invite went unanswered by the newly minted Vice President, who had served with him as a fellow attorney general from the State of California.

A little more than a month after this initial communication, Brnovich wrote to President Biden about Harris ignoring his invitation, requesting “that she be replaced as [his] ‘border czar.’” He said, “We are now nearly 50 days into her appointment, and Vice President Harris has shown little interest in observing what is happening along the border and has failed to articulate any plan to deal with the devastating effects of this crisis. Instead, she has traveled to other states for unrelated and less-pressing matters. Mr. President, this is a slap in the face to Arizonans who helped elect you both to the highest offices in the land.”

Mark Dannels, the Arizona sheriff for the region of the border that Harris traveled to, had also implored Harris to visit his county to see firsthand the problems that her administration’s policies have caused for communities in the state and elsewhere in the country. He told another Arizona media outlet last month that “it’s very important that [Harris] comes here. Because for three-and-a-half-years, we haven’t seen prioritization, acknowledgment or engagement with Vice President Harris or President Biden.”

Dannels then stated, “For her not to come in the next 78 days … sends a very strong message.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.