U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said under oath that there’s a crisis at the southern border, attributing the illegal migrant surge to President Joe Biden’s policies, according to a deposition released by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office.
Ortiz’s remarks came during a July 28 deposition in which Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other agencies, according to Moody’s office.
Moody’s lawsuit alleges that DHS and other federal agencies violated federal law after not returning inadmissible migrants to their home countries and instead releasing them into the U.S. interior.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “After the Biden administration denied that they were engaged in catch-and-release and that they were responsible for the historic surge at our southern border, Florida got the Chief of Border Patrol to admit, under oath, the truth. The Biden administration caused the surge, made the border less safe, and is flagrantly violating the very federal laws they swore to uphold. 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.”
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Last year, Attorney General Moody sued the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies for failing to follow federal law and detaining inadmissible immigrants intercepted at the border until the aliens are repatriated to the country of their citizenship, as is required under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
In the last full month of the Trump administration, Border Patrol released just 17 illegal immigrants into the U.S. pending resolution of immigration cases.
During the deposition, Chief Ortiz agreed that Biden’s policies caused the unprecedented surge at the border and release of thousands of immigrants into Florida and other states. Among other admissions, Chief Ortiz testified that the crisis is “making the border less safe for Americans and immigrants alike.”
On July 28, Attorney General Moody’s Chief Deputy took Chief Ortiz’s deposition under oath as part of discovery in the case. Watch the deposition below.
Florida’s case, no. 3:21-cv-1066, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. It is set for trial in January 2023.
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