Would Harris Secure the Border That Biden Did Not?

East Blake Lane Park in Oakton, Virginia, sits about 16 miles down the road from the White House, where President Joe Biden lives, and about 17 1/2 miles from the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Kamala Harris resides.

Shortly after 3 p.m. on July 20, according to a statement published on July 22 by the Fairfax County Police Department, a local resident was walking down a path in that area when he saw something disturbing in the woods. It was 47-year-old Nicacio Hernandez Gonzalez -- and he was "lying unresponsive."

"Officers located an adult male with obvious trauma to the body," said the police statement. "He was declared deceased at the scene."

"Preliminarily, detectives believe that this was not a random act," said the police. "Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the man's death."

So, what did they discover?

"Through an extensive investigation, Detectives arrested Maldin Anibal Guzman, 27, and Wis Alonso Sorto-Portillo, 45, both of no fixed addresses," said a statement released the next day by the Fairfax police. "Guzman and Sorto-Portillo have been charged with Malicious Wounding by Mob. They are being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center with no bond."

Three days later, the Fairfax police put out another statement with this headline: "Update: Third Suspect Arrested in Connection To Oakton Homicide."

"Detectives from our Fugitive Tracking and Apprehension Unit, with the assistance of the Metro Transit Police Department, Amtrak Police, and U.S. Marshals Service, arrested Wilmer Adli Guzman, 20, of no fixed address, in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday," said the police. "Adli Guzman was charged with Malicious Wounding by Mob and is currently being held at the D.C. Central Detention Facility. He is pending extradition to Fairfax County."

The Fairfax City Patch, a local news organization, then reported that Guzman, whose full name is Maldin Anibal Guzman-Videz, was in the United States illegally.

"Guzman-Videz is a Honduran noncitizen who was in the country illegally, according to ICE," the Patch reported. "He was arrested Nov. 18, 2018 by the U.S. Border Patrol after entering the country near Hidalgo, Texas."

The local ABC News affiliate also reported that he was in the country illegally. "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed to 7News that one of the suspects, Guzman-Videz, is a Honduran in the U.S. illegally," it said.

Fairfax Police had arrested him previously on March 17, 2023, and then again on June 28, 2023. The first time, as reported by the Patch, they "charged him with malicious assault involving a victim severely injured." The second time, they "charged him with malicious wounding."

The "Malicious Wounding by Mob" that took place 16 miles from the White House and that Guzman-Videz was allegedly involved in occurred more than a year after these arrests.

It also took place more than three years after Biden put Harris in charge of handling the problem of illegal immigration from the Northern Triangle, which includes Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

On March 24, 2021, Biden and Harris made an announcement at the White House.

"I've asked her, the VP, today -- because she's the most qualified person to do it -- to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help -- are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border," said Biden.

"While we are clear that people should not come to the border now," Harris said, "we also understand that we will enforce the law and that we also -- because we can chew gum and walk at the same time -- must address the root causes that -- that cause people to make the trek, as the president has described, to come here."

Did the Biden-Harris strategy for "stemming the migration to our southern border" succeed?

In fiscal 2020, before Biden and Harris took office, the Border Patrol encountered 400,651 people trying to illegally cross the southwest border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data. In fiscal 2021, it increased to 1,659,206. In fiscal 2022, it increased again to 2,206,436; and, in fiscal 2023, it was 2,045,838.

Through July of this fiscal year, it was 1,418,671.

Speaking in Arizona last month, Harris talked about securing the border: "We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship."

It is reasonable to believe that a President Harris would work to create a "pathway to citizenship" for illegal aliens.

But is it reasonable to believe she would close the pathways that allow them to come here illegally in the first place?

Considering her record in the Biden administration, it is not.

Terence P. Jeffrey is the investigative editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation. To find out more about Terence P. Jeffrey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

----