Joe Biden takes office as the 46th president of the United States with an optimistic call for unity, vowing to bridge deep divides and defeat domestic extremism two weeks after a violent mob tried to undo his election victory.
On a frigid but sunny day at the very Capitol building that was assaulted on January 6, Biden was sworn in moments after Kamala Harris became America's first woman vice president, closing the book on Donald Trump's tumultuous four years.
"Democracy is precious, democracy is fragile and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed," Biden says before a National Mall that was virtually empty due to the ultra-tight security and a raging COVID-19 pandemic that he vowed to confront immediately. — AFP
Harris meets virtually with Guatemalan president apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
9 Jun 2021
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters in Mexico on Tuesday countries in the region are “in large part, if not entirely” at fault for the U.S. southern border crisis that intensified under the new administration.
“I want to be very clear that the problem at the border in large part, if not entirely, stems from the problems in these countries,” Harris declared during a joint press conference with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). “I cannot say it enough. Most people don’t want to leave home.”
Her comments came after the Mexican president, commonly known as AMLO, and his counterparts from El Salvador and Guatemala accused the Biden administration’s overwhelmingly welcoming policy of incentivizing Central Americans to leave their home country.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said they are looking for more space to house the record number of migrant children crossing the US-Mexican border.
US to Help Train Guatemalan Border Task Force, Increase Aid to Northern Triangle
Vice President Kamala Harris in talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Monday proposed that the United States helps train members of a Guatemalan task force in charge of protecting the country’s border.
In a virtual meeting, Harris offered to send 16 Department of Homeland Security employees to assist in the effort, amid a recent spike in unaccompanied minors arriving at the southern border many of them Guatemalan.
The vice president also said that the United States will increase aid to the region and will assist Guatemala with the construction of shelters for returned migrants.