America Ferrera: Kamala Harris ‘Cruel’ Border Comments ‘A Slap in the Face’

Activist and actress America Ferrera said Thursday on ABC’s “The View” that Vice President Kamala Harris saying “do not come” to immigrants was both “cruel” and a “slap in the face” for all of the immigrants who supported the Biden-Harris ticket.

Co-host Joy Behar said, “On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a news conference in Guatemala. She said, ‘I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making the dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border, do not come.’ What was your reaction to that statement?”

Ferrera said, “Well, I had so many thoughts, but first and foremost, extreme disappointment and confusion at just how useless and futile and ineffective a strategy that is. I know that Vice President Harris knows the stories too, but I have spent many years sitting in shelters, detention centers on this side of the border and on the other side of the border with, you know, Honduran families, Mexican families, Guatemalan families — hearing the stories of the violent and life-threatening circumstances they’re fleeing.”

She continued, “For me, what she said is essentially telling a drowning person to stop flailing for their life, to not do the one thing that might save them or their child. It’s not only incredibly ineffective, as she knows, it’s cruel. That’s such a disappointment because Vice President Harris and President Biden promised compassion. They promised humanity. They promised we were going to bring humanity back into our country’s governance, including our immigration policy. That was not humanity. That was not compassion. It was more of the same that we’ve been hearing for decades.”

Ferrera added, “Quite honestly as somebody who campaigned for, rallied and voted for Biden and Harris, it’s a slap in the face for all of the immigrant advocates who believed, you know, what they promised, which was change and compassion. So they know better, and they should do better. I’m not under the impression, never was, that we were electing perfect people. I think that it is our role and our job to elect people and then to hold them accountable. She should be held accountable to these comments. They’re harmful and perpetuate a very harmful perspective that really does make immigrants in this country less safe.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN