Kamala Harris, who as Biden's VP was border czar, takes heat over reaction to recent deadly ICE shootings

Kamala Harris.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom then-President Joe Biden appointed border czar in April 2021, not long after taking office, is drawing criticism after she posted reactions to two recent deadly shootings by ICE agents in which she denounced the agents' actions and Trump's policy on illegal immigration. 

Harris took to X to weigh in on a pair of fatal shootings that left an illegal immigrant in Houston dead last week, and a Colombian National dead in Maine this week. Not surprisingly, the killings have reignited criticism of ICE and its tactics, although in both cases federal immigration authorities have begun investigations into each killing -- of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston, and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 28 in Maine. In the Maine incident officials have said Guerrero used his vehicle as a weapon against agents.

"This is the second time in a week that ICE agents have killed someone who — by their own admission — was not the subject of their operation," Harris said Tuesday in a post on X, adding, "There must be an immediate, independent, and transparent investigation. Anyone responsible for wrongdoing must be held accountable."

Last Thursday, Harris declared, "we continue to be outraged by the horrific and cruel actions of ICE under the Trump Administration." Her remarks on the two incidents, given her background as border czar during a time when the country saw a sustained crisis at the border, drew a flurry of sharp responses.

Many on social media pointed out that Harris never seems to mention the names of American citizens, in many cases young women and girls, who were killed by illegal immigrants allowed into the nation while she was border czar and under Biden's chaotic border policies. Names like Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungarry, and many others were mentioned by X users responding to Harris' remarks. Others posted images and videos remembering the many victims killed by illegal immigrants over the last five years. 

Another theme emerging in the criticism of Harris was her omission about claims that, at least in the case of the fatal shooting in Maine, officials have claimed and at least one witness has said, Guerrero was trying to ram agents with his vehicle. “The car was put into drive and was trying to hit the ICE officer,” Lucas Scott, an eyewitness said after the incident, according to The New York Post.

Harris, who lost the 2024 presidential election to Trump after being installed as the Democratic nominee, is a frontrunner to clinch the party's nomination in 2028. A new poll released this week showed Harris has 37% support among the Democrat field, with California Gov. Gavin News in second at 24%, and Pete Buttigieg third, with 10%.