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When Vice President Kamala Harris made her first and only trip to the US-Mexico border, federal agents on the frontlines were instructed to completely sanitize the area to hide the true severity of the crisis from cameras, sources told The Post — even going so far as braiding the hair of unaccompanied minors.
Harris, whose first big job as the nation’s no. 2 executive was to control the flow of migrants across the southern border, went to the border near El Paso, Texas, on June 25, 2021 after pressure from Republicans over her handling of the crisis.
Border Patrol sources said that agents on the ground were told to start moving migrants out of holding facilities to put on a “show” for Harris.
“They rented out a ton of hotels and we spent hours moving out bodies. The kids that remained we had to braid their hair,” one agent said, adding that they “made jokes about how the building was more secure than the whole border was.”
“She had zero interest in really seeing anything. It was rushed,” a former official who was also present during the trip, said.
Harris, whom critics dubbed President Biden’s “border czar,” spent the day visiting a migrant processing center and a port of entry alongside Democratic members of Congress and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
While in the processing facility, Harris met some of the migrant children who remained and drew pictures for her.
But aside from that, things remained quiet, the sources said.
“We sanitized all the aliens out of there to make it look good,” a second agent said.
“They did a clean up on the streets from all the people that they were releasing that were staying on the streets of downtown,” a third agent said.
There were, of course, many migrants in the area at the time. In June 2021 alone, border agents stopped 21,500 people who crossed the border illegally in the El Paso sector.
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond when reached for comment.
Harris’ record on migration is under fresh scrutiny after she appeared to all but lock up the Democratic presidential nomination just two days after President Biden dropped out of the race.
More than 8 million migrants crossed the border illegally after Harris gave her famous “do not come” speech, telling families not to make the dangerous trek to the US.
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump slammed Harris’ record on the border, and her visit to El Paso.
“She visited the border a single time, far away from the epicenter of the invasion. You don’t even call it a visit,” he said.
“She went to a place that has no problem, and was there for a very short period of time. So essentially, she never visited the border as we know it.”
Other GOP leaders have also slammed Harris’ record on the border.
“Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s open border czar. By every metric, Harris has failed to secure our borders, advancing far-left Democrats’ failed open border policies and the needs of illegals over the safety of American citizens,” House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said during a press conference Tuesday.
While serving in the Biden administration, Harris has been tasked with addressing the “root causes of migration” in Central America. Early on, she faced pressure to visit the southern border to see the record flows of migrants.
At first, Harris brushed off a visit and grew defensive while NBC anchor Lester Holt pressed her on the issue in early June 2021.
“At some point, you know, we are going to the border,” Harris told Holt on NBC’s “Today” show in Guatemala.
“We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border,” Harris said, to which Holt replied, “You haven’t been to the border.”
Harris responded with a trademark laugh: “And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance.”
Finally, Harris caved to the pressure and made her way to El Paso just about two weeks later.
