America Ferrara calls Kamala Harris telling immigrants ‘do not come’ a ‘slap in the face’
‘For me, what she said is essentially telling a drowning person to stop flailing for their life’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.America Ferrera had some strong words for Vice President Kamala Harris’s message to Central American migrants to stay home and not try to enter the US.
As part of her first foreign trip as vice president on Monday (7 June), Harris repeated the line, “Do not come,” which was met with criticism from a number of prominent figures on the left, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Sitting down for an interview on The View, Ferrera called Harris’ message while visiting Guatemala “a slap in the face”.
“First and foremost, [I feel] extreme disappointment and confusion at just how useless and futile a strategy that is,” the Superstore actor said to co-host Joy Behar on Thursday (10 June).
“I know that Vice President Harris knows the stories, too, but I have spent many years sitting in shelters, detention centers on this side of the border and on the other side of the border, with Honduran families, Mexican families, Guatemalan families, hearing the stories of the violence and the life-threatening circumstances that they're fleeing,” Ferrera added.
“For me, what she said is essentially telling a drowning person to stop flailing for their life, to not do the one thing that might save them or their child,” continued Ferrera, whose parents are from Honduras.
“I was never under the impression that we were electing perfect people,” concluded Ferrera. “I think that it is our role and our job to elect people and then to hold them accountable. And [Harris] should be held accountable to these comments because they're harmful and they perpetuate a very harmful perspective that really does make immigrants in this country less safe.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments