In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes released Sunday, former Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said he never had any conversations with President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris while working in their administration.
“I’ve never had one conversation with the president or the vice president for that matter. That’s a problem,” Ortiz said. He was Border Patrol chief under Biden and deputy chief under former president Donald Trump before retiring last year.
“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,” Ortiz added.
"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
National Review reports that Immigration has become the number one concern among the American public as the Biden administration allows record numbers of migrants to enter the U.S. illegally, recent Gallup polling found. Additionally, the brutal murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, allegedly carried out by an illegal immigrant, brought additional scrutiny to the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies.
When discussing the dispute between Texas governor Greg Abbott (R) and the Biden administration over border enforcement, Ortiz did accuse Abbott of playing politics, but said the White House’s mixed messaging to migrants has led to an influx of illegal immigration.
