The former head of the US Border Patrol said neither President Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris, who was tapped as the “border czar,” ever met with him during his tenure – as he accused the White House of sending mixed messages over the ongoing migrant crisis.
Raul Ortiz, who served as the US Chief of Border Patrol for two years before retiring last May, slammed leaders in Washington for playing politics over the border during an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, but he took special issue with Biden and Harris.
“I’ve never had one conversation with the president or vice president,” Ortiz revealed.
“I was the chief of the Border Patrol, I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem,” he said of the lack of communication with the commander-in-chief and border czar.
Ortiz was notably in charge during one of the volatile periods at the southern border, including the mass influx of border crossings leading up to the end of Title 42 and the migrant camp that formed under the Del Rio bridge consisting of 15,000 Haitians.
When asked by CBS’s Cecilia Vega if he believed the White House was sending mixed messages to migrants, Ortiz simply answered, “Yes, most definitely.”
The former Border Patrol chief said the US needed to be clear in its messaging to migrants trying to enter the US southern border.
“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 gonna be sent back,” Ortiz said.
The White House has yet to issue a reply regarding Ortiz’s claim that he never spoke with the president or vice president.
The interview with Ortiz was coupled with a larger Q&A with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has long criticized Biden over the border and taken matters into his own hands by deploying thousands of officers and soldiers to combat illegal crossings over the past three years.
Despite the US-Mexico border falling on the responsibility of the federal government, Abbott claimed he had “the authority to control ingress and egress to any land in the state of Texas,” an authority he said is best used to stop the government from allowing illegal entry.
The Texas governor ultimately described the current situation at the border as a “war zone” and vowed to barricade every area where migrants are crossing illegally.
Abbott’s declaration came as data from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the government expects the population of migrants living in the US will surge to 8 million by the end of September, a 167% increase from five years ago.
The number of migrants temporarily released from ICE custody into the US had already surpassed 6 million At the end of fiscal year 2023 on Sept. 30, double what the amount was during Trump’s tenure in 2019 when the immigrant court backlog stood at 3 million.
The backlog includes immigrants awaiting deportation, as well as those who have yet to receive final decisions on their asylum applications, but who are not detained.