Speaking from Guatemala’s capital with its president at her side, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a stark message Monday to would-be migrants from Central America, saying they “will be turned back” if they attempt to cross the U.S. border illegally.
Harris, on her first foreign trip as vice president, also gently chided her host, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. He and other regional leaders, she said, must work to reduce poverty, violence and corruption and give their citizens reasons to stay in their home countries — to create “hope” for citizens about their futures there.
“I believe if you come to our border, you will be turned back,” Harris said during a joint news conference with Giammattei. “So let’s discourage our friends or neighbors or family members from embarking on what is otherwise an extremely dangerous journey.”
