Americans can sigh a sigh of relief. Our Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, finally visited the border and spoke of protecting the men and women and the dignity of work, even calling for “much work that needs to be done in support of Milwaukee,”  Sadly, it was the wrong border.

We applaud the Vice President on her emphasis of people “finding hope at home,” in other words, finding reasons not to migrate to the U.S. We also commend her for speaking extensively on corruption and how it greatly factors into a person’s decision to flee their home country.

However, she was appointed to oversee border issues by President Biden on March 24, making nearly two months that she has had the chance to — but chosen not to — travel to the southern border and see firsthand the disaster brought about by her and President Joe Biden’s administration. When she finally commented on the southern border crisis, she ludicrously claimed that the root cause of this surge of illegal immigration is a “lack of climate adaptation” and “climate change resilience.” This is an insult to Americans — and to the thousands of people who are being trafficked into the U.S. every day.

Pointing fingers at the false narrative of a climate crisis in order to avoid facing the truth of the ongoing border crisis is a disingenuous move that abandons the American people’s fundamental rights.

Harris has chosen to focus on migration from the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala), neglecting the fact that large numbers of migrants that Homeland Security encounter at the Mexican border are from not just South and Central America, but also Somalia, the Congo, the Middle East, Russia and China.

There’s no climate crisis in Central America. In fact, major crop production has risen since 2000 in all three countries in the Northern Triangle. El Salvador has seen an increase in the production of corn, beans and sugarcane. Guatemala has seen more consistent production of coffee, bananas, palm oil, sugar, corn, rice and beans. And Honduras has increased its production of palm oil, melons, coffee, and bananas.

The climate did not suddenly change; what changed is U.S. policy. People were suddenly invited. Weak laws and open borders are the root cause. There is poverty and oppression, but far too many of these border crossings are simply migrants taking advantage of the federal government’s negligence — at the American people’s expense.

The Biden Administration’s leniency on border security has enhanced the drug cartel business and human traffickers. According to Border Patrol research, cartels now make more than $24 million per week in human trafficking just in one 200-mile stretch of the border in southwest Texas. Thousands of children are being sent on a long, dangerous journey on coyotes’ false promise that they will be cared for and delivered safely. Instead, many are not fed, not given water and forced to sleep piled on top of each other in tight spaces. And many are sexually assaulted. The U.S. is facing record numbers of unaccompanied minors being processed by Border Patrol.

In San Antonio, the Freeman Coliseum has been converted to house over 2,000 unaccompanied migrants while they are processed. Minors are meant to stay here at these facilities while representatives attempt to find them any relatives in the U.S. or find safe foster homes they can remain in until a more permanent solution is found. Recently, reports have surfaced that minors are being released to human traffickers to pay their debts for their illegal entry into the country. Volunteers and the Department of Health and Human Services are unable to keep track of who is going where, leaving these minors vulnerable to human traffickers and sex offenders.

Meanwhile, the foster care system in this country is barely able to handle our own cases.

At a town hall in Comstock, Texas, local resident Susan Goble asked, “What about our lives, our liberty, our pursuit of happiness? What about that? It seems like it’s always all about everybody else, but what about when our lives are in danger? We’re American citizens. I thought the government was about the security of the American people. We’re hard-working people paying our taxes, and what are we getting from it? We can’t even enjoy our place anymore. We have to carry guns now and be in fear of our lives. That’s what I’m frustrated with. I feel helpless.”

It is the federal government’s responsibility to stop the flow of illegal drugs, human trafficking, and unlawful immigration. Vice President Harris should visit the southern border and see first-hand how Border Patrol agents process thousands of people every day. She should listen to the local communities, talk to the migrants, and then secure the border. This would show the American people that our rights — and this humanitarian crisis — are her priorities.