Vice Presidential Motorcade Snarls Westside Traffic

LOS ANGELES, CA — If Wilshire Boulevard and the San Diego (405) Freeway seem slower than usual Friday and Saturday, that's because Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to spend the night at her home in Brentwood.

Vice President Kamala Harris flew into Los Angeles Friday following a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, and she is expected to spend the night at her Brentwood home. She arrived in Los Angeles early Friday afternoon, traveling by motorcade on the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway into Brentwood.

The motorcade prompted some temporary closures along the freeway and along residential streets in the West Los Angeles area.

The trip is Harris' fourth trip home since taking office. She arrived Friday afternoon after touring the border. President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with tackling the immigration crisis at the southern border. The trip to El Paso was her first to the southern border as Vice President, a symbolic location because it's where former President Donald Trump initiated his controversial child separation policy, Harris told reporters.

Motorists in the West Los Angeles area could run into some traffic delays Friday afternoon, officials warned.

Harris flew to El Paso, Texas, Friday morning for a much-anticipated tour of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Presidential-level visits to the Southland are generally accompanied by freeway and road closures to accommodate motorcades. There was no information on what routes will be affected by Harris' visit.

Harris was accompanied on her border visit by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She has come under criticism from lawmakers — mainly Republicans but also from some Democrats — who questioned why she had not yet visited the border three months after being appointed by President Joe Biden to lead efforts to address the nation's immigration system.

"It was always the plan to be come here," Harris told reporters upon her arrival in El Paso. "And I think we're going to have a good and productive day."

She stressed that she was "been to the border many times" and was focused on addressing not only the situation at the border but also on the "causes" driving the wave of immigration into the country. She said her visit was about "looking at the effects of what we have seen happening in Central America."

Harris took a tour of the Customs and Border Protection facility in El Paso, then made a stop at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, considered one of the busiest pedestrian border crossings. During her visit, she met with five immigrant girls, aged 9-16, urging them to "work hard, study, dream and hope."

The stopover in Los Angeles will be Harris' fourth since becoming vice president. She most recently visited over Easter weekend.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.