Border chief contradicts DHS Secretary Mayorkas in congressional testimony

By Bethany Blankley (The Center Square)

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said Wednesday that the Department of Homeland Security has no operational control over the border and that Mexican cartels control perimeters along it. He testified at a US House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on border security in Pharr, Texas.

Asked by committee chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., “Does DHS have operational control of the entire southwest border?” Ortiz replied, “No sir.”

His testimony was consistent with testimony he gave last August in a Florida trial when he said there was “currently a crisis” at the border.

Ortiz’s testimony conflicted with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ testimony before Congress last April. Asked by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, if he would testify under oath “do we have operational control [of the border] Yes or no?” Mayorkas replied, “Yes, we do.”

At the April hearing, Roy then read the legal definition of operational control: “the prevention of all unlawful entry into the United States, including entry by terrorists, other undocumented aliens, instruments of terrorism, narcotics and other contraband”. He again asked, “Do you stand by your testimony that we have operational control in light of this definition? to which Mayorkas replied, “Yes.”

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Green played a clip of the trade on Wednesday and read the definition and asked Ortiz if he believed Mayorkas was lying. Ortiz said he had not seen the full testimony, but based on federal law, he said DHS did not have control of border operations.

“Do the cartels control the border perimeters? Green asked Ortiz, who replied, “The cartels control a lot south of the border.”

Green said BP sector chiefs told him that the Biden administration’s policies and the State Department’s failure to negotiate deals with countries to accept the return of their citizens were the main reasons for the pushed to the southern border. Ortiz said he agreed with that assessment and that ICE’s inability to repatriate foreign nationals to their home countries “has been a huge challenge.”

Green, in his opening remarks, said the more than 6 million people who entered the United States illegally in two years under Mayorkas was more than all who entered in the 12 years of the two previous administrations combined. .

Lack of money, personnel and technology are not the reasons for the massive increase in people, crime and drugs, Green said. It was Mayorkas who changed 89 preexisting policies and implemented no detention or deterrence policies that caused it, he said.

“In violation of laws written by the United States Congress, passed and signed by previous presidents, this DHS Secretary wants nothing more than to flood the country with people,” he said. “And the problem with that is that it empowers the terrorist narco-human trafficking cartels…who make billions by bringing people into the United States, many of whom have to repay the cartels with forced criminal labor. .”

“The cartels run ads all over the world: $50,000 if you’re from China; $30,000 if you are from Iran; $10,000 to $15,000 if you’re from Central America,” he said. “And then they inundate these people in massive waves… causing Border Patrol to focus its resources on entry points. To use a military term, the cartels neutralize border patrol by forcing them to thin the lines in rural areas and then fentanyl and nefarious individuals flow through those areas.

Related: Mayorkas falsely claims border ‘closed’ ahead of Biden trip to El Paso

Mayorkas has always maintained the border was closed, even in January after a record number of illegal aliens were released onto the streets of El Paso, Texas, prompting the mayor to declare a state of emergency. Despite multiple calls for Mayorkas’ resignation and removal, a DHS spokesperson told The Center Square, “Secretary Mayorkas has no intention of resigning.”

DHS would “continue our work to enforce our laws and secure our border, while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Members of Congress can do more than point someone else’s finger; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which they haven’t updated in over 40 years.

Members of the Democratic committee refused to attend the hearing, calling it a “political stunt”. Green responded by saying “the political coup was the Democrats’ empty chairs.”

The committee “is supposed to be a bipartisan committee; I guess for them bipartisanship is only when you exactly agree with them,” he said. “Bipartisanship is when you sit down together and debate issues and talk to try to find common ground and solutions. You can’t have bipartisanship if the other side doesn’t show up. … Their place of service is here, and they are awol.

Syndicated with permission from The central square.