The migration crisis will continue to get worse because there are ‘no consequences’ for illegal immigration under Joe Biden‘s policies, the president’s top Border Patrol official claims.
Raul Ortiz accused Biden of creating an environment that allowed for the unprecedented surge in migration at the southern border over the last nearly two years and said it will continue at an ‘exponential’ rate under current policies.
‘In my experience, we have seen increases when there are no consequences,’ the Border Patrol chief said under oath during a recorded deposition with the Florida Attorney General’s office.
He added in his questioning: ‘There is an assumption that if migrant populations are told that there is a potential that they may be released, that, yes, you can see increases.’
‘I do think it will increase, yeah,’ he said when pressed on if illegal immigration will continue to surge.
Despite the second straight month of decreased encounters at the southern border, the figures are still at record-breaking numbers under President Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ leadership.
Joe Biden’s Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said in a deposition last month that the migration crisis will continue to get worse because there are ‘no consequences’ for illegal immigrants under the president’s policies
Migrants are being bused to New York City and Washington, D.C. from Texas and Arizona to take the heat of illegal immigration off of border states. PicturedL Migrants are greeted as they arrive at the Port Authority Bus Station in NYC on August 30, 2022
In Fiscal Year 2022 so far, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered more than 2 million migrants at the southern border – a historic number that will rise even more in the final quarter.
The highest-ever crossing figure was reached in May this year, when CBP reported it encountered 241,166 migrants in a single month.
In a recorded deposition before the Florida Attorney General, Ortiz said under oath that there is a lack of ‘consequences’ for migrants flooding the southern border.
Ortiz appeared for a deposition on July 28 as part of discovery in a lawsuit by Florida AG Ashley Moody against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and border agencies that fall under the department’s purview.
Since Biden took office, hundreds of thousands of migrants have been released in the interior of the U.S.
Ortiz, who has more than 31 years of law enforcement experience, told lawyers representing the state of Florida last month that migrants mostly enter the U.S. illegally because they believe they will be able to remain in the country.
Mayorkas has continually insisted that the southern border is ‘closed,’ despite the spike in illegal immigration numbers since Biden took office.
Biden’s policies, which largely rely on alternative to detention programs, have only exacerbated the ongoing border crisis. CBP encounters remain at record-breaking levels, with more than 2 million in Fiscal Year 2022 so far
During the Aspen Security Forum, Mayorkas said while there is a ‘historic challenge’ at the border, it is still ‘secure.’
A 2021 DHS memo disclosed Biden’s immigration policies and noted that the change is standards helped fuel the migrant surge
In the document, which Moody shared with Fox in April, noted that one of the main reasons for increased migration was ‘perceptions of favorable U.S. immigration policies.’
Alternative to detention programs, which are a huge part of Biden’s immigration policies, are not particularly effective. Most times, migrants eventually are able to elude the system and disappear into the U.S
When asked during the deposition last month if the border crisis is currently ‘less safe for Americans and aliens alike’, Ortiz replied, ‘yes.’
The Florida lawsuit will go to trial in January 2023 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
When asked during the deposition last month if the border crisis is currently ‘less safe for Americans and aliens alike’, Ortiz replied, ‘yes.’ Pictured: Migrants climb a steep and rocky hill to claim asylum in the u.S. after being smuggled across the Rio Grande river in Roma, Texas on August 27
It comes as New York City and Washington, D.C. mayors plead for help with the crisis, which has reached the cities after Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched an initiative sending migrants out of his state.
Thousands of migrants sent by bus are arriving in the nation’s capital and the Big Apple.
Abbott started the program in mid-April so the problem would be closer to the face of elites and Democratic lawmakers who insist the border situation is not a crisis.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey followed Abbott’s lead and also started busing migrants who crossed illegally into his state to D.C. in mid-May.