Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has joked that Vice President Kamala Harris will be dealing with “aliens” in her recently announced new role as chair of the National Space Council.
Cruz and other Republicans have criticized Harris for not travelling to the U.S.-Mexico border despite the fact that she is leading the administration’s efforts to stem the flow of undocumented migrants entering the country.
The senator shared a report from CNN on Twitter on Sunday about Harris’ new position at the National Space Council, writing: “She heard there was a crisis of millions of aliens coming illegally….”
The terms “alien” and “illegal alien” are commonly used to describe migrants but the Biden administration has directed that they no should no longer be used by officials.
There has been some confusion about the precise nature of Harris’ role, according to NBC News, but she is tasked with tackling the root causes of immigration and not the events currently unfolding at the southern border.
In that capacity, Harris is leading diplomatic efforts to address the causes of migration in Mexico and the so-called “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
However, many Republicans have repeatedly said she should visit the border to assess conditions, including Cruz. Harris confirmed her appointment to the council in a tweet on May 1.
“As I’ve said before: In America, when we shoot for the moon, we plant our flag on it. I am honored to lead our National Space Council,” she said.
The National Space Council was previously led by former Vice President Mike Pence. It was during his tenure that the Trump administration established the Space Force as a branch of the military.
Cruz had previously made fun of Harris for not visiting the southern border when the vice president traveled to New Hampshire in late April with Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan. The state Republican Party said she was visiting the wrong border. New Hampshire borders Canada to the north.
“As you travel over 2,300 miles away from El Paso, our country would be better served with an official visit to our southern border, not a campaign trip for @Maggie_Hassan,” the state GOP tweeted.
“GPS got confused,” Cruz tweeted at the time.
It’s not just Republicans saying Harris should visit the U.S.-Mexico border, however. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) told PBS Firing Line With Margaret Hoover on Friday that the vice president should go, calling the situation a “crisis.”
Hirono said she didn’t know why Harris had yet to make the trip.
“I don’t know. Maybe we have a few other things to deal with, like the pandemic and everything else, so I’m not going to point fingers at her in the sense of — I hope that she will go down to the border,” Hirono said.
Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.
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