Heritage Foundation sues DHS for documents that say 'Harris' and 'border czar'

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White House doubles down on claims VP Harris was never 'border czar'

Fox News' Peter Doocy grilled White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over recent claims that Vice President Kamala Harris never served as "border czar" on Thursday. 

A conservative think tank is demanding the Department of Homeland Security produce documents that refer to Vice President Kamala Harris as "border czar," a position the Democratic presidential candidate insists never existed. 

The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project and Mike Howell, its executive director, filed a lawsuit Monday against DHS in a Washington, D.C., federal court, asking the agency to produce "certain records related to Vice President Kamala Harris and her role as 'Border Czar' for the Biden-Harris Administration."

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Vice President Kamala Harris and migrants at the southern border. Democrats have argued that Harris never served as a "border czar." (Getty Images)

The Heritage Foundation submitted the request on July 30, but DHS denied it, saying it was "too broad in scope and did not specifically identify the records which you are seeking," the lawsuit states. The plaintiffs were asked to specify what records they wanted. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign and Homeland Security. 

"If she wasn't the border czar then there shouldn't be any. Amongst other excuses, DHS says this request is too big a burden for them," the Oversight Project posted on X. 

Harris's immigration record has been a major talking point since she announced her candidacy for president after President Biden dropped out of the race.

Harris was widely dubbed the "border czar" after Biden tasked her in March 2021 to address the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. 

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Major media outlets suggested that Kamala Harris was never President Biden's "border czar," despite past reporting that used the same language.  (Brendan Smialowski /AFP)

The term has become a cornerstone of GOP attacks on Harris as she continues her White House bid.

The Biden administration has rejected "border czar" as an unofficial title for Harris's role, but the term was used by her critics and even embraced by multiple news organizations until she ascended to the top of the presidential ticket.

Last week, Fox News' Peter Doocy grilled White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over claims that Harris never served as "border czar."

"Why are Democrats so sensitive about the vice president and the border?" Doocy asked. "Do you think that the border would be less of a talking point now if there was less migration to the border, say, if somebody had addressed ‘root causes’ of migration sooner?"

Fox News' Peter Doocy grilled White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over recent claims that Vice President Kamala Harris never served as "border czar" on Thursday. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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"We are going to debunk the false characterization of the vice president," Jean-Pierre replied. "She was not a border czar. And it's not just us. Independent fact-checkers have said the same thing — that that did not exist, and that is not true."

In July, the House voted mostly along party lines to condemn Harris's handling of the U.S. southern border. Six Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the measure, which passed 220-196.