Biden's former ambassador to Mexico blasts the administration he served in over its disastrous handling of the border crisis: 'In this, Trump had been correct'

Ken Salazar kept his criticism to himself for nearly four years, but not anymore. Now, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico during Joe Biden's administration has decided to break his silence on what he described as the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous handling of immigration. In a book set to hit the shelves soon, the former official paints a picture of a White House that, in his view, refused to call a spade a spade while the southern border was rapidly spiraling out of control.

According to POLITICO, which obtained an advance copy of the text, Salazar argues that Democratic leadership never grasped the magnitude of the problem or the electoral cost it would ultimately pay. "There was political failure to understand the reality of the crisis at the border, and the political consequence it would have on Democrats in the 2024 election," the former ambassador said. 

The most uncomfortable admission for his own party comes when Salazar, a lifelong Democrat, admits that Donald Trump on the border was not just demagoguery, as the Democrats claimed. The border crossing, he writes, was "antiquated, under-resourced, underdeveloped, insecure, and broken (…) In this, Trump had been correct."

The book, titled "Borderlands," blends memoir with political manifesto. Salazar, who has served not only as ambassador but also as secretary of the Interior, senator, and Colorado attorney general, bursts onto the scene of a Democratic Party White House.

Much of his frustration, he recounts, stemmed from a request he repeatedly made but which was never heeded: to appoint a "border czar" who would coordinate the response of various federal agencies from Washington. The position was never created. Instead, he says, the label was mistakenly attached to then-Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden had tasked with addressing the "root causes" of Central American migration.

For Salazar, that mission failed to achieve its goal. The former official asserts that the assignment did not affect migration flows in the slightest and suggests that Harris lacked real authority or feared that taking on the issue head-on would be political suicide. Biden’s subsequent decision to anoint her as his successor, without an internal contest to put her to the test, strikes him as a miscalculation.

Tensions within the cabinet at the time were also laid bare. Salazar recalls a 2023 meeting in which he confronted then-Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for a firm and unified message on the crisis. The response he attributes to the official paints a picture of a team on the defensive: "Ken, I have a lot on my plate already. I'm about to be impeached for all this border stuff. The Republicans have it out for me." Mayorkas declined to comment on that account to POLITICO.

The ambassador's distrust became so deep that, he says, he confessed it to his wife during Biden's visit to Mexico: "I'm not sure this administration knows what they're doing." Today, he positions himself as a sort of immigration advisor to his party ahead of the 2028 election. He warns potential candidates that downplaying voters' frustration with the border comes at a high cost. And if no one takes up his proposal, he doesn't rule out running for president himself.