Former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said in his upcoming memoir that he considered running for president in 2024 out of frustration over the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border with Mexico.
“I should run for president,” he told himself in his forthcoming book “Borderlands: My Fight for an Inclusive America,” Politico reported Thursday, having obtained a copy ahead of the book’s July 28 release.
Salazar told the outlet that there was a “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.”
He writes in the book that he frequently called on White House officials and former President Biden himself to tap someone to be a “border czar,” a role that eventually went to former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“But sadly, her designation in this position was having no effect on migration flows,” he wrote, according to Politico. “[Harris] had been placed in charge of getting at the ‘root causes’ of migration, but many felt she had been ineffective. For whatever reason, she had been unable to help with the border and migration crisis, even though she’d sat next door to the Oval Office for almost four years.”
The Hill has reached out to Harris’ office for comment.
Salazar’s frustrations with the administration dragged on, at one point telling his wife that he was “not sure this administration knows what it’s doing,” Politico reported, citing the book. He calls the border “antiquated, under-resourced, underdeveloped, insecure, and broken,” adding that, “In this, Trump had been correct.”
Salazar spoke with advisors and operatives, with a platform drafted, but ended up not running after the Democratic Party went forward with Harris as the party’s nominee after Biden dropped out of the race, Politico reported.
He is using his book as a warning to potential Democratic presidential contenders in 2028 on how to handle immigration after both Biden and President Trump, the latter of whom has made immigration a core component of all his presidential campaigns and both of his administrations.
Salazar has even proposed that the U.S., Mexico, and Canada form a new alliance to share economic and border responsibilities. Last Tuesday, he shared this idea on his website, titled, “A New American Alliance: The Borderlands Platform.”
Politico asked Salazar three times whether he is considering a 2028 presidential bid.
“I can’t see the future beyond the reality that we have a November 2026 election, and a lot’s going to happen this year,” he said in response, according to the outlet. “Looking ahead, I want this borderlands platform to be part of that agenda for the future.”
