West News Wire: Under oath, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz claimed that President Biden’s border policies are to blame for the unprecedented surge at the border and the release of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into the interior of the country because they have “no consequences” for those entering the country illegally.
As part of the discovery process for a lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody against the Department of Homeland Security and other border agencies, Ortiz made his claims in a video. The video was taken on July 28 and was part of a recorded deposition.
Attorneys for Florida were informed by Ortiz, a law enforcement veteran with more than 31 years of service, that he thinks migration at the southern border will increase exponentially because there are no “consequences” in place to curb the tide of migrants flooding into the U.S.
“In my experience, we have seen increases when there are no consequences,” said Ortiz during the deposition.
“So, if migrant populations believe that they’re going there are not going to be consequences, more of them will come to the border. Is that what you’re saying?” questioned the attorney.
Ortiz responded: “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.”
“So, it will increase at an exponential rate. Is that what is being suggested here?” continued the attorney.
“Well, I do think it will increase, yeah,” responded Ortiz.
In addition, the attorney pressed Ortiz, asking, “Since President Biden was elected, does this document indicate that aliens illegally entering the United States perceive that they will be able to enter and remain in the United States?”
“Yes,” he told the lawyers while under oath.
The “document” the plaintiff’s attorney referred to was a spring 2021 memo that disclosed Biden’s immigration policies, in part, fueled the migrant surge at the border.
The DHS document, which Moody shared with Fox News Digital in April, listed “Perceptions of favorable U.S. immigration policies” as one of the reasons migrants have given for surging to the border. Other reasons included pursuit of economic and educational opportunities.
Moody’s lawsuit cites the spring memo along with the Biden administration’s November 2021 “Alternatives to Detention” document, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection memo detailing the Biden administration’s implementation of program for migrants coming across the southern border.
Moody’s lawsuit charges that the agencies under Biden’s direction are failing to follow established federal law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, that requires officials to detain illegal aliens at the border until they are sent back to their country of citizenship.
During the deposition, Ortiz went on to testify that the southern border is currently in crisis and replied “yes” when asked if the border is “less safe for Americans and aliens alike.”
Ortiz stated that he concurred with the plaintiff’s attorney’s claim that “record numbers” of immigrants have entered the country illegitimately this year. More than 2 million migrants have already been encountered by Border Patrol agents this fiscal year, surpassing the historic total of 1.7 million that were.
“Florida got the chief of Border Patrol to admit, under oath, the truth after the Biden administration denied that they were engaging in catch-and-release and that they were responsible for the record surge at our southern border,” Moody said.
The Biden administration broke the law in numerous ways, contributed to the surge, and made the border less secure. The Biden administration is putting hard-working border patrol agents in impossible and untenable positions risking their lives and safety, and I want to thank Chief Ortiz for testifying truthfully at his deposition,” Moody said.
