Former U.S. Mexico Ambassador Calls Out Biden Administration’s Inaction on Border Crisis, Demands Progressive Regional Reform
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Ken Salazar, former ambassador to Mexico, sharply criticizes the Biden administration’s failure to address the humanitarian crisis at the border and proposes a bold, inclusive regional plan in his upcoming memoir.
Ken Salazar, who served as the United States ambassador to Mexico under President Joe Biden, exposes the administration’s unwillingness to confront the humanitarian emergency at the border. Salazar reveals that he repeatedly urged the White House to appoint a dedicated “border czar” to coordinate a humane and comprehensive federal response to immigration flows, but the administration refused to create such a position, perpetuating bureaucratic inertia. In his forthcoming memoir, Borderlands: My Fight for an Inclusive America, Salazar denounces the administration’s refusal to call the situation a “crisis” and criticizes its reliance on Vice President Kamala Harris to address so-called “root causes” in Central America, which he argues amounted to little more than empty rhetoric and failed to address the suffering of migrants.
Salazar recounts that by July 2024, after a lackluster presidential debate performance, he briefly considered running for president himself, reflecting the deep frustration among progressives with the Democratic establishment’s lack of vision. He now champions a “new North American alliance” to integrate supply chains, coordinate border patrols, and expand cultural exchanges among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, echoing the spirit of the Kennedy-era Alliance for Progress—a vision rooted in solidarity and regional justice.
The former interior secretary has met with Democratic senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and is scheduled to meet Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to discuss his “borderlands” platform, which directly challenges the status quo by describing the U.S. borders as “broken” and demanding urgent repair. He criticizes the decision to have Harris oversee migration issues, noting that her efforts did nothing to alleviate the plight of migrants or change migration flows.
A Biden administration spokesperson declined to comment, and a Harris spokesperson did not respond, further highlighting the administration’s lack of accountability. Salazar also references a 2023 conversation with former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in which Mayorkas expressed concern about impeachment pressures related to the border, underscoring the political cowardice that has stymied real reform.
The book arrives amid polling that shows mixed public attitudes toward former President Donald Trump’s cruel immigration enforcement and a perception that Republicans are viewed more favorably than Democrats on the issue—a damning indictment of Democratic timidity. Salazar hopes his regional proposal will push the Democratic Party toward a more just and humane approach in upcoming elections, though he declined to confirm any personal presidential ambitions for 2028.
"I'm not sure this administration knows what they're doing," Salazar confided to his wife after President Biden’s 2023 visit to Mexico, voicing the frustration of many progressives.
"This should have been a moment of vindication … but it was too late," he wrote about the June 2024 executive order that limited southern border crossings, lamenting the administration’s chronic delays.
Salazar’s memoir stands as both a personal account and a progressive policy manifesto, urging Democratic leaders to abandon incrementalism and adopt a collaborative, justice-oriented North American strategy to address immigration and border security.
