Kamala Harris makes her first visit to the US-Mexico border as vice president

Vice President Kamala Harris visited the southern border in El Paso, Texas, on Friday to see a migrant processing center, following dogged criticism for not having visited the US-Mexico border and a rocky first foreign trip to Guatemala and Mexico earlier this month.

The vice president toured the El Paso central processing center, a US Customs and Border Protection facility, and spoke with five young girls from Central America while there.

During a news conference at the conclusion of her trip, Harris said the girls were there without their parents.

"They are without their parents. They are also full of hope. They were asking me questions. 'How do you become the first woman vice president?' But it also reminds me of the fact that this issue cannot be reduced to a political issue. We're talking about children. We're talking about families. We're talking about suffering. And our approach has to be thoughtful and effective," Harris said.

Throughout her visit, she underscored the need to address the "root causes" of migration, saying during her news conference that "when we have this conversation about what's happening at the border, let's not lose sight of the fact that we're talking about human beings."

"People don't want to leave home if they don't have to," she said.