The Biden administration has faced increasing criticism over its immigration policies, which have helped usher in an unprecedented spike in illegal immigration over the past three years.
Not only have elected officials on both sides of the aisle and citizens of the hardest-hit border towns spoken out forcefully against the White House’s handling of the ongoing crisis but the men and women tasked with patrolling the border have also expressed their frustrations.
Biden didn't "lose control" of the border.
He gave it away.
— Border Patrol Union – NBPC (@BPUnion) March 4, 2024
Just days after Biden visited Brownsville, Texas, on the same day his likely general election rival Donald Trump had already planned to visit the Texas border town of Eagle Pass, the CBS News program “60 Minutes” aired an interview with former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who retired last year.
He confirmed that he never once met with President Joe Biden during the time that they served in their respective positions.
“I never had one conversation with the president — or the vice president, for that matter,” Ortiz revealed. “And so I was the chief of the border patrol. I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem.”
He went on to lament that the White House appeared to base its immigration policies on political calculations rather than the security of Americans and enforcement of existing laws.
“When agencies are making a decision based upon politics or whether they’re going to get media coverage — hey, we’re going to put all our personnel in this two-mile stretch; what about the other 200 miles?” he explained.
Even though the Biden administration apparently had no interest in hearing from him directly during his tenure at the helm of U.S. Border and Customs Protection, Ortiz nevertheless revealed what he believes should be done to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
“We need to make sure that Central America, South America, Mexico, that those regions understand that if you pay a smuggler and you cross in between the ports of entry and you do not have a legitimate claim to some sort of asylum benefit, you’re going to be sent back,” he concluded.
Under the Biden administration, he shared his opinion that the White House has been sending “mixed messages to migrants.”
