It’s no secret that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is in a state of disorganization and chaos regarding their control over the U.S. border. However, the White House continues to insist that the situation is under control, and definitely is not a crisis. Well, one border patrol Chief just blew that narrative completely out of the water with a one-word answer regarding the overall security of the southern border.
The House Committee on Homeland Security held a field hearing on the ongoing border crisis at the southern border in McAllen, Texas on Wednesday, with witnesses including Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the committee, Mark Green (R-TN), began his questioning of Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz about the border crisis by asking if the United States maintains operational control over the border.
Afterwards, Green showed a video of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifying to Congress that the U.S. does have operational control of the border. Green then asked Ortiz whether Mayorkas had lied, to which Ortiz didn’t directly respond.
Even after Green explained the meaning of “operational control” to Ortiz, he would not say whether Mayorkas was lying, even though he agreed that the U.S. doesn’t have operational control over the border.
Republican members of the committee were the only ones in attendance, as the Democrats on the committee had pulled out in participating earlier this week.
Democrat Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the committee, defended his party’s absence from the hearing, saying in a statement: “Unfortunately, it has become clear that Republicans planned to politicize this event from the start, breaking with the Committee’s proud history of bipartisanship.”
Green did not hold back in expressing his anger at the Democrats for not attending the hearing during his opening remarks.
More than 1.7 million migrants crossed the border in fiscal year 2021 and 2.3 million in fiscal year 2022 under the Biden administration, with fiscal year 2023 on track to outpace those numbers.
It is shameful that while Americans are suffering from the border crisis one way or another, House Democrats are more concerned with making a spectacle of themselves rather than finding substantive solutions to the issues at hand. It is clear that the priorities of House Democrats lie in disregarding their constituents’ needs and advancing their own political interests. Meanwhile, it is incredibly concerning that the Biden administration has an incoherent and inadequate plan to address illegal immigration and secure our borders. This reveals yet another example of how we need to take action against those in power who disregard their duties and act as if they can brush aside such serious issues without consequences.
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