U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz admitted Wednesday at a particular congressional listening to in Texas that the U.S. doesn’t have “operational control” of the southern border, opposite to the Biden administration’s claims.
Ortiz testified earlier than the U.S. Home Committee on Homeland Safety throughout a area listening to in McAllen, Texas. The committee’s Democratic members boycotted the listening to — although Democrats traveled usually to McAllen to protest the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” coverage towards unlawful migrants in 2018.
The empty seats the place Democrats have been to have sat have been notable through the two-part listening to, which occurred at South Texas Faculty and featured each federal and native legislation enforcement officers as witnesses.
To emphasise Democrats’ absence from the border disaster listening to in Texas, seats to Chairman Mark Inexperienced’s left the place Dems have been supposed to sit down are empty. pic.twitter.com/lSVaQTsnes
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) March 15, 2023
Committee chair Rep. Mark Inexperienced (R-TN) pressed Ortiz on whether or not the U.S. had “operational control” of the border, as Secretary of Homeland Safety Alejandro Mayorkas had beforehand testified earlier than the committee.
Ortiz mentioned, plainly, “No.” He wouldn’t, nevertheless, state instantly that Mayorkas — to whom he stories within the division — had lied to Congress. Later within the listening to, Ortiz additionally admitted to Rep. Michael Visitor (R-MS) that 5 of the 9 southwest border sectors weren’t safe, contradicting claims by President Joe Biden.
Whereas Ortiz mentioned that he didn’t agree with the concept of constructing a border wall “from sea to shining sea,” he advised Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK) that he disagreed with the Biden administration’s choice to cease constructing the wall that President Donald Trump had begun, and that it was a mistake to tear down present wall infrastructure.
C-SPAN
Ortiz additionally mentioned essentially the most damaging new insurance policies had been the Biden administration’s “parole” system to make it simpler for migrants to stay within the U.S., and the tip of the “Remain in Mexico” coverage for asylum candidates.
All through, Chief Ortiz praised the women and men of Border Patrol, saying that they have been doing their finest.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Giant at Breitbart Information and the host of Breitbart Information Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He’s the writer of the brand new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He’s additionally the writer of the latest e-book, Neither Free nor Truthful: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He’s a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Observe him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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