Raul Ortiz, the former head of the U.S. Border Patrol, said that neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris ever met with him during his two years in the position.
"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
Speaking on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Ortiz said, “I’ve never had one conversation with the president,” he said. “Or the vice president, for that matter. And so I was the chief of the border patrol. I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem.”
Ortiz was chief during one of the most chaotic and volatile periods at the southern border with more than 8 million illegal immigrants crossing the border, the end of Title 42 and a migrant camp of more than 15,000 Haitians under the Del Rio Bridge.
He stated that some of that chaos was caused by the mixed messaging being sent by the White House and that Biden should have made it clear that if you crossed the border illegally, you would be sent home.
“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.
Ortiz also criticized Biden for reacting to the crisis based on the media and politics rather than his own conviction.
“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.
Ortiz also testified under oath in March 2023 that, at least in his professional opinion, the border was not secure. Two months after making that statement, he retired.
A Biden administration official said that Ortiz was invited to meet with Biden during one of his trips to the border in January 2023, almost two years after Ortiz took his position.
The interview with Ortiz was part of a larger story on the border that included a question and answer time with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
