‘Do not come’: Kamala Harris’ three words to Guatemalans stir debate and backlash

Following four years of border crackdowns, endless legal fights and racially charged rhetoric by President Trump, immigration advocates had hopes that the new Democratic administration would bring a more compassionate and open-armed approach to immigration, particularly toward asylum seekers fleeing troubled Central America.

But when Vice President Kamala Harris gave a high-profile speech Monday in Guatemala, in which she told would-be immigrants from Central America “do not come” to the United States, her words instantly provoked ripples of anger and concern among immigrant rights groups and progressives.