Kamala Harris, while serving as district attorney for San Francisco from 2004 to 2011, allegedly misappropriated over $5 million in federal grants intended to combat border crimes, according to a 2010 Department of Justice (DOJ) audit. The audit found that Harris’s office requested millions from the DOJ’s Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative (SWBPI), a program designed to reimburse local prosecutors for handling illegal immigration and drug smuggling cases referred by federal authorities.
Honest Harris. Before She Was Border Czar, Kamala Misappropriated Millions in Federal Grants Meant To Combat Border Crimes https://t.co/iInqfdK1HO
— David Rice (@TaxdocRice) July 30, 2024
However, the DOJ inspector general’s report determined that none of the cases filed for reimbursement by Harris’s office were eligible under the SWBPI program. Consequently, San Francisco was compelled to repay the improperly claimed funds. This incident suggests a long-standing struggle by Harris to effectively manage border crime issues, dating back to her early political career.
Currently serving as the vice president and point person for President Biden’s migrant policies, Harris has faced criticism from Republicans for failing to address the surge in illegal immigration and border crime. “I think she’s been consistent throughout her political career, whether she was D.A., a California attorney general, a senator,” said Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “Her entire record was about not enforcing immigration laws, [and] making sure that the people who violate those laws are not prosecuted or removed in any way.”
Jon Feere, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, echoed these sentiments, stating that Harris has not shown initiative to discourage illegal immigration or mitigate the effects of open borders since her time as district attorney. “She doesn’t see a problem with victimization, and thinks that the policies are more important than any harm to American citizens,” he said.
As district attorney, Harris was a vocal advocate for San Francisco’s status as a “sanctuary city” and vowed not to prosecute immigration offenses. Despite this stance, her office secured over $5 million in unlawful reimbursements from the federal program aimed at addressing migrant-related crimes. The DOJ auditors flagged discrepancies when Harris’s office requested significantly more reimbursements in 2006 than any other local prosecutor in the U.S., despite San Francisco’s distance from the Southwest Border.
Harris’s office claimed the funds were for prosecuting illegal immigrant-linked drug cases referred by the U.S. Attorney’s office. However, the inspector general’s investigation found that none of the cases met the eligibility criteria and were not referred by federal prosecutors. “[A]ll of the cases for which San Francisco had received SWBPI funds were ineligible for reimbursement,” noted the audit, which attributed the failure to Harris’s staff and an outside contractor. The contractor, who also worked for other California prosecutors, was found to have submitted ineligible claims, although those amounts were significantly lower than those requested by Harris’s office.
This revelation has brought renewed scrutiny to Harris’s handling of immigration issues and her overall management of border-related crimes throughout her career.
