In stunning congressional testimony, the United States Customs and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz completely undercut his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by telling lawmakers that the illegal immigration crisis is at a critical level and the federal government doesn’t have “operational control.”
During an appearance before the House Homeland Security Committe on Wednesday, Ortiz gave very blunt answers to questions from all sides of the aisle appearing to contradict what his boss has been telling American’s for years. Mayorkas and many others in the Biden Administration have been pushing the narrative that things along the border are under control but Ortiz was clear when he described how badly the border is deteriorating, citing the example of when thousands of migrants stormed a bridge in El Paso this week trying to gain access into the United States.
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) chairs the House Homeland Security Committee and asked Ortiz directly if the federal government had operational control of the entire border and he replied “no sir,” directly contradicting what the embattled Mayorkas had been pushing.
Chairman Green then defined what operation control meant to be clear which according to the code states, “the prevention of all unlawful entries into the United States, including entries by terrorists, other unlawful aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband,” followed by a video of Mayorkas telling the committee a short time ago that the government did indeed have operational control of the border.
The Chairman then pressed Ortiz to find out if Mayorkas was telling the truth or lying under oath, but Ortiz simply reiterated the government doesn’t have operational control of the border, stopping shy of directly calling his boss a liar.
Chief Ortiz also answered questions on the right way to secure our border and gain operational control, seemingly aligning himself with the policies of the Trump administration.
“I do not believe in a wall from sea to shining sea, but I do believe in infrastructure and barrier systems in concentrated areas, especially urban areas,” Ortiz said.“And it’s always been our practice, from 2006 when I was an agent in charge in West Texas to now. But I also don’t agree that we should tear down perfectly good barrier system to install something that is based upon requirements that we developed over the last few years.”