Border Police Chief Raul Ortiz said Wednesday that he disagreed with the Biden administration’s decision to end construction of the border wall in early 2021, while claiming infrastructure would help officers do their jobs.
Ortiz spoke at a Homeland Security Committee hearing in McAllen, Texas, and was heard by Representative Josh Brecheen, R-Okla. office.
“I don’t believe in a wall from sea to shining sea, but I do believe in infrastructure and barrier systems in concentrated areas, especially urban areas,” Ortiz said. Texas so far. But I also don’t agree that we should tear down a perfectly good barrier system to install something based on requirements we’ve developed over the years.”
Ortiz said CBP broke down “perfectly good infrastructure system in some areas that we should have but just left alone” in places like Del Rio, Texas.
March 15, 2023: Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz testifies at a Homeland Security hearing. (Screenshot)
Brecheen then asked him specifically about the wall that was appropriated by the Trump administration, but subsequently canceled by the Biden administration.
“Under the previous administration, we had appropriated more than 200 miles of wall and … President Biden closed that down by executive order,” he said. “Do you disagree with his decision to halt construction?”
“Yes, sir,” Ortiz replied.
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He was also asked if he supports the “Stay in Mexico” policy — a Trump-era policy halted by the Biden administration that detained migrants in Mexico for their hearings — saying he “supports any police force that allows us to repatriate individuals back to their countries of origin.”
The comments came during a hearing where Ortiz told lawmakers that the Department of Homeland Security had no operational control over the border.
He also supported officers falsely accused of beating Haitian migrants in 2021, as well as suggesting policies were in place that harmed Border Patrol’s ability to do their job.
Meanwhile, DHS said the hearing “highlights the vital work the Department of Homeland Security does every day to enforce our laws, secure our border, and fight cartels and smugglers” and pointed to testimony from Ortiz and other witnesses who “develop new programs , technology and investments have a real impact.”
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“Despite inheriting a dismantled immigration system and facing unprecedented migration impacting nations across the Western Hemisphere, this administration has funneled resources to the border, reducing encounters between ports of entry, more smuggling operations than ever before have been disrupted and more people have been banned.” drugs in the past two years than in the previous five,” said a spokesman.
“The Department welcomes input from Congress and looks forward to working with members on legislative solutions to our fractured immigration system, which Congress has failed to reform in more than 40 years,” they said.
Adam Shaw is a political reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at [email protected] or at Twitter.
