Vice President Kamala Harris’s children’s book Superheroes are Everywhere is being included in welcome packs for unaccompanied migrant children entering America at the Mexico border.
Images taken at a California shelter for migrants this week show Harris’ book sitting on a cot along with a backpack, some clothes and other basic supplies like body wash and toothpaste.
These form the welcome kits for unaccompanied migrant children arriving the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, which has recently been converted to deal with an influx of illegal immigration.
Migrant children found at the border without a parent will be temporarily housed at the facility, which officials say can accommodate up to 1,000 children.
An image taken on April 22 at the Long Beach Convention Center, where migrant children found at the border without a parent will be temporarily housed, shows Kamala Harris’ book Superheroes are Everywhere sitting on a cot along with a backpack, clothes and basic supplies
Young unaccompanied migrants, from ages 3 to 9, watch television inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. U.S. officials are scrambling to handle a dramatic spike in children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone
Officials are scrambling to handle a dramatic spike in children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone, which has lead to a massive expansion in emergency facilities to house them as more kids arrive than are being released to close relatives in the United States.
Despite being tasked with managing the crisis at the southern border 31 days ago, Harris has not yet visited border facilities nor held any significant press conferences on the issue.
The vice president’s 2019 picture book Superheroes are Everywhere is a New York Times bestseller and was written to convey the empowering message: ‘Superheroes are all around us – and if we try, we can all be heroes too.’
The Amazon description notes: ‘Before Kamala Harris was elected to the vice presidency, she was a little girl who loved superheroes. And when she looked around, she was amazed to find them everywhere!
‘In her family, among her friends, even down the street – there were superheroes wherever she looked. And those superheroes showed her that all you need to do to be a superhero is to be the best that you can be.’
Young readers are encouraged to sign up to a ‘Hero Code’, promising to carry out a series of commitments, including ‘be kind’, ‘make a difference when I can’, ‘help people be brave’, stand up for what’s right’, and ‘protect people who need it.’
Kamala Harris’s 2019 picture book Superheroes are Everywhere was written to convey the empowering message: ‘Superheroes are all around us – and if we try, we can all be heroes too’
Other images taken of the Long Beach facility that will temporarily house unaccompanied young migrants show recreational items that children will have access to
Young migrants wait to be tested for COVID-19 at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas
Last month, the White House announced Harris as its border ‘czar’, claiming she would lead the administration’s response to the crisis at the southern border.
On Friday, she arrived in New Hampshire to promote President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion in her sixth domestic trip since she was placed in charge of border diplomacy.
Harris has insisted she will travel to Guatemala and Mexico in the next month, but has not expressed interest in visiting the border wall or migrant holding facilities.
The White House has insisted her role is to try and determine the ‘root causes’ of migration, such as economic strife and violence that motivate people to try and reach America.
According to Customs and Border Patrol data, the number of immigrants apprehended along the southern border jumped from 96,974 in February to 168,195 in March. The last time single-month apprehensions were that high was in March of 2001.
The sleeping quarters for migrant children at the Long Beach Convention Center in California. Officials say the center can accommodate up to 1,000 children
Migrants departing from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are seen after crossing the Rio Grande River, in Texas on April 8. The number of migrants trying to cross the Mexican border to the USA jumped to 171,000 in March, the highest monthly number since 2006
CBP data also showed that from February to March, a 174 per cent increase in the number of family units caught along the border and a 101 per cent increase in unaccompanied children.
The Biden administration has gone to dramatic lengths to cope with the crisis, shipping unaccompanied children to be housed as far away from the southern border as Pennsylvania, and spending $86.9million to house 1,200 migrants in hotels until September.
Republicans blame the crisis on Biden, saying he dismantled key immigration rules imposed by Donald Trump. Democrats say that Biden inherited a broken system, including cruel policies he is attempting to remedy.
Harris has called leaders Central America and held meetings on the issue, including hosting philanthropists in her White House office on Thursday to learn more about problems facing Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where many of the migrants are coming from.
She insisted that Central American migrants don’t actually want to leave their home countries and flee to the U.S.
‘The way I look at it, people don’t want to leave home,’ Harris said ahead of her meeting with the leaders of major philanthropist organizations. ‘They don’t want to leave their grandparents, they don’t want to leave the culture.’
