Vice President Kamala Harris blamed the Trump administration for the 'broken' immigration system that saw a record 128 percent rise in migrant crossings in October compared to the same time last year.
Citing the recorder number of unlawful border crossers, ABC's George Stephanapoulos asked Harris, the president's point person on root causes of immigration: 'What are you doing to turn that around? How long will it take?'
'It's not going to be over night,' the vice president conceded. 'We can't just flip a switch and make it better.'
'We inherited an immigration system that is deeply broken,' she added.
Meanwhile, Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for ending Trump-era border policies, including 'Remain in Mexico,' the public charge rule and and loosening of ICE enforcement.
The Supreme Court reinstated the 'Remain in Mexico' policy in August, and the Biden administration made another attempt to end the rule that requires migrants to await trial in Mexico.
Harris added that migrants do not 'want' to leave their home country, but do so out of desperation due to dire conditions in Central and South America.
The vice president also hit back at claims she is being misused as vice president, saying she doesn't feel like she's being under utilized by President Joe Biden and his team.
'No. I don't,' she told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired on Good Morning America Thursday morning. 'I am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished but I am also absolutely, absolutely clear-eyed that there is a lot more to do and we're going to get it done.'
She rattled off a list of her accomplishments, including the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, her recent trip to France, her work with members of Congress and her presiding over the Senate as she defended her job as vice president.
Her interview came amid reports of chaos in the vice president's office and frustration among West Wing staff with her and her team, which the White House has vigorously pushed back on, denying Harris is being sidelined
Recent data obtained by the Washington Post shows that the US apprehended more than 1.7 million migrants along the US-Mexico border in the 2021 fiscal year that ended in September, the highest number ever recorded.
Vice President Kamala Harris blamed the Trump administration leaving a 'broken' immigration system
Migrants sit together while waiting to board a border patrol bus after crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S. on Wednesday
A border patrol officer begins processing a family after they crossed the Rio Grande into the U.S. on Wednesday in La Joya, Texas
CBP encounters with illegal crossers jumped by 128% in October from the same time last year
But in October, there were 164,303 interdictions a 14 percent decrease compared to September. Border Patrol registered 192,001 encounters in September and 209,840 in August after a record-high 213,593 interdictions were reported in July, the peak of the southern border crisis facing the Biden administration.
CBP data showed southern border interdictions increased in each of former President Donald Trump's last eight full months in office, and the crisis has unraveled in President Joe Biden's first six full months at the White House.
Despite warnings from the Biden administration warning migrants not to come to the
