FIRST ON FOX: A top House committee is pushing to get documents from the Biden administration about Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in what lawmakers are calling “the worst border crisis in American history.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) wrote a letter to Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Troy Miller in response to a request last month for documents and communications between Harris’s office and CBP.

“It is important that the Committee and the American people understand Vice President Harris’ role as border czar in the ongoing border crisis,” Comer said in the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital.

TOP HOUSE COMMITTEE DEMANDS INTERNAL DOCUMENTS ON HARRIS’ ROLE IN BORDER CRISIS: ‘COMPLETE FAILURE’

Rep. James Comer speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on April 30, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“The massive illegal entry and release of illegal aliens into the United States under the Biden-Harris administration has contributed to murders, sexual assaults, and serious bodily harm committed against countless Americans by illegal aliens. These crimes should never have happened.”

The letter details a number of recent crimes believed to have been committed by illegal immigrants, including a crime by a member of the MS-13 gang and a rape in New York City, believed to have been committed by two immigrants.

Comer says the commission set a deadline of August 20 and reiterated the request on August 20 and September 6. The deadline is now October 1, and Comer is threatening additional measures if the request is not granted.

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“If CBP continues to withhold documents and communications on this matter, the Committee will consider alternative measures to obtain this information, including through the mandatory process,” he said.

The fight over the documents comes amid an ongoing debate over who is to blame for the border crisis and which presidential candidate is best suited to solve it. Republicans have blamed the crisis on the policies of the Biden-Harris administration, saying the historic three-year crisis was the direct result of the administration’s rollback of Trump-era policies and implementation of what they call “open borders” policies.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C., Saturday, September 14, 2024. (AP photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

They have targeted Harris for her role in addressing the “root causes” of migration, which she was given in 2021. That led to her being dubbed the “border czar,” a title the White House has rejected.

The Biden administration has argued that it faces a historic crisis in the hemisphere that needs more funding and immigration reform from Congress to fix a “broken” system. It has pointed to a sharp drop in numbers since Biden signed an executive order in June restricting arrivals.

Officials said the number of encounters has dropped by more than 50% since then, including encounters in August, which were 68% lower than in August 2023.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE ON THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Harris, meanwhile, has criticized former President Trump for not supporting bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this year that conservatives said would regulate large numbers of people, but proponents said would increase funding for the border and restrict access to the U.S.

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“Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol supported it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security, and this is my promise to you: As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it,” she said at the Democratic National Convention last month.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the vice president said Republicans “continue to block a bipartisan border security bill supported by the Biden-Harris administration and a bipartisan group of senators.”

“This administration has provided record funding for border security and continues to fight to ensure the border is adequately resourced, including by deploying advanced fentanyl detection machines. The administration’s executive actions have reduced unauthorized border crossings to levels lower than when Trump left office,” spokesman Ernesto Apreza told Fox News Digital. “President Biden and Vice President Harris are leading the way on border security solutions, while Republicans in Congress continue to exploit the problem to score political points.”