Two travel aides to Vice President Kamala Harris have resigned from their positions just one day before she travels to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a report from the New York Times.
Sources close to the matter told the Times that Harris’s director of advance Karly Satkowiak and deputy director of advance Gabrielle DeFranceschi informed Harris’s office that they would be leaving within the coming weeks.
According to Harris’s team, the resignations were expected and Satkowiak and DeFranceschi are working on finding replacements for their roles. The Times also noted that Harris’s travel team is seemingly shorthanded and efforts to fill gaps with advance associates within the team have been in the works since before she traveled to Central America.
Harris, who has been tasked with overseeing the crisis at the southern border by President Joe Biden, has yet to make a trip to the border since she took office in January. Symone Sanders of Harris’s team issued a statement Wednesday announcing that Harris will finally visit the border on Friday, accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Former President Donald Trump is also expected to visit the southern border next Wednesday with House Republicans and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX).
“What Biden and Harris have done, and are continuing to do on our border, is a grave and willful dereliction of duty,” Trump said in a statement last Tuesday. “My visit will hopefully shine a spotlight on these crimes against our Nation—and show the incredible people of ICE and Border Patrol that they have our unshakeable support.”
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