Retired Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “never” spoke to him about the migrant crisis Sunday.
Ortiz blasted Biden and Harris for failing to have “one conversation” with him as border patrol chief amid the influx of illegal border crossings in a segment on “60 Minutes.”
“I’ve never had one conversation with the president or the vice president, for that matter,” Ortiz said.
“I was the chief of the border patrol. I commanded 21,000 people,” Ortiz continued. “That’s a problem.”
“I’ve never had one conversation with the president or the vice president for that matter… That’s a problem,” says Raul Ortiz, the U.S. Border Patrol chief under President Biden until he retired last year. pic.twitter.com/bWoZkFbnVc
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 4, 2024
Ortiz, who retired last year, criticized the Biden administration for having agencies react to crises at the behest of politics and the media. Biden reportedly visited the southern border at Brownsville, Texas on Thursday, the same day former President Donald Trump traveled to the border at El Paso, Texas to deliver remarks. (RELATED: ‘Wake Up’: Border Patrol Union Mocks Joe Biden On Social Media)
“You don’t just plant a flag just to plant a flag,” Ortiz said. “It’s gotta be strategic and it’s gotta make sense.”
“When agencies are making a decision based upon politics or whether they will get media coverage, ‘Hey, we’re gonna put all our personnel in this two-mile stretch.’ What about the other 200 miles?” Ortiz exclaimed.
The dueling trips came after the murder of nursing student Laken Riley, allegedly by an illegal migrant. There were over 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023 alone under the Biden administration, up from roughly 2.3 million in fiscal year 2022 and 1.7 million in fiscal year 2021, according to federal data.
“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 port of entry and you do not have a legitimate claim to some sort of asylum benefit, you’re gonna be sent back,” Ortiz said.
“Do you believe that the White House has sent mixed messages to migrants?” the interviewer asked.
“Yeah, most definitely,” he responded.