Vice President Harris will oversee effort to resolve problems at U.S.-Mexico border

President Joe Biden, whose administration is grappling with overcrowding at migrant facilities on the southern border, tasked Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday with leading efforts to coordinate with Mexico and the Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

The assignment marks Harris’ first major policy role since she was sworn in in January.

“I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this” than Harris, the president said at the White House. “When she speaks, she speaks for me, doesn’t have to check with me.”

The vice president will work to stem the flow of people coming to the border, thousands of whom are unaccompanied children. Biden, among other reversals of Trump-era immigration policies, ended the prior administration’s practice of expelling unaccompanied minors.

But the recent increase in migrants has quickly overwhelmed border patrol stations and processing facilities, which are grappling with backlogs and overcrowding.