CNN: Kamala Harris' team 'dismayed' by being held responsible for border crisis

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Vice President Kamala Harris is frustrated by her border role being "mischaracterized" by Republicans and some media outlets, CNN reported Tuesday, saying Harris was not in charge of stemming border crossings themselves but rather "root causes" of migration.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand said there was a "lot of confusion" around Harris' role when President Biden put her in charge of the border crisis in March.

"Republicans kind of seized on that confusion, and they made it seem as though Vice President Harris was going to be the new border czar," she said. "That she was going to be responsible and be the envoy to the border, be responsible essentially for all of the problems that arise there. 

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"When her team saw this being mischaracterized by some media outlets and by Republicans and questions swirling about whether she herself was going to visit the border in her new capacity, they were kind of dismayed by this because her role was always going to be focusing on these Northern Triangle countries and the root causes of this, and they saw her being linked to the border as a potentially politically perilous assignment and task."

Bertrand appeared over a chyron reading, "VP's team works to get distance between her & border problems."

Harris has come under fire for not visiting the border since taking her new role. She will visit Mexico and Guatemala this month.

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While the White House has said that Harris’ role is not the border per se, critics have pushed back by arguing that in order to do that outreach, the issues are linked and it is necessary to see what is happening at the border.

The border headache comes as Harris takes fierce criticism for her tweet about Memorial Day weekend featuring a photo of herself and the text, "Enjoy the long weekend." She also made a poorly received joke about green electricity during her commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Bertrand said CNN had been told Harris was "extremely involved" in crafting the administration's regional strategy to address the illegal immigration surge's root causes, from "climate change" to "tackling food insecurity."

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"Her team has come out and said publicly, ‘Look, we do not own the issues at the border. We are not managing the issues at the border,’" Bertrand said, saying Harris is pointing to the Department of Homeland Security to handle it.

Mainstream media headlines in March, such as from Axios ("Biden puts Harris in charge of border crisis"), the Washington Post, ("Biden taps Harris to handle border crisis"), Politico ("Biden makes Harris the point person on immigration issues amid border surge"), and the Associated Press ("Biden taps VP Harris to lead response to border challenges") were more broad about Harris' role.

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The border surge has been tied in part to the Biden administration's looser immigration policies, with some illegal immigrants specifically citing the new government as their reason for the trek.

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.