Ex-Obama, Biden diplomat blasts former boss’ border failures: ‘They woke up too late’
Former Interior Secretary and US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar criticised the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border, saying it “woke up too late” to the crisis. He argued that insufficient priority for Mexico and the wider Americas, alongside weak planning and communication, allowed Donald Trump to make border security a major political advantage.
Salazar, who served under both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said the White House lacked urgency in responding to migration pressures. The article presents his comments as an internal critique of Democratic border policy and its political consequences.
- Salazar says Biden responded too late to border pressures.
- He cites weak planning and communication with Mexico.
- He says the issue strengthened Trump politically.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those supporting Salazar's critique argue that the administration underestimated migration pressures and delayed necessary responses, particularly in diplomatic engagement with Mexico and the wider region. They contend that stronger early action on asylum processing, border capacity, and clear policy communication could have prevented the crisis from becoming such a dominant political liability.
The case against
Those defending the administration note that it inherited a fractured asylum system and faced migration drivers rooted in Central American instability that required careful policy development and sustained diplomatic negotiation. They argue the apparent delay reflected the complexity of balancing humanitarian and security concerns, and that characterising the response as simply 'too late' overlooks the administration's eventual implementation of substantive policy measures.