The head of the U.S. Border Patrol said: fox news In an exclusive interview, he said the failed Senate border bill contained both improvements and drawbacks to existing policy, but should have been considered a fair compromise.
Chief Jason Owens spoke on “The Story” about the bill’s co-authors, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kyrsten Sinema (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (Connecticut). He expressed his gratitude to the Border Patrol and said he would not let the Border Patrol succeed. We cannot accomplish our mission without the cooperation of Congress.
“And unless there is action from Congress, we will continue to suffer in the same situation. So no one is saying the bill has to have everything we need for it to be acceptable. think” [it] That’s why we have a compromise,” Owens said.
“There were certainly aspects of that bill that I liked for the agency. And, of course, there were aspects that I didn’t like.”
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Critics like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have argued that lawsuits against the bill should be filed in Colombia rather than in Texas, New Mexico, or other border states where challenges may be filed. He pointed to a provision directing the case to be filed in the special district court. Other conservatives objected to the threshold of an average of 5,000 migrants a day before emergency power is activated to completely close the border.
However, Sinema told Fox News that there is instead a “real misunderstanding” about elements of the emergency powers that the right has criticized.
Asked whether the bill would bring the U.S. closer to “operational control” of the Mexican border, Owens said that in his 28 years working on the Mexican border, he had never declared the border completely secure. I said no.
Mr. Owens was selected by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to replace Acting Secretary Raul Ortiz in the summer of 2023.
He previously led the busy Del Rio District and oversaw the Houlton District, which spans much of the border between Maine and New Brunswick.
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“We need more people. We need more agents in the field. They need more people in the technology and equipment infrastructure to not only do their jobs better, but to keep them safe. We need more forces,” Owens added. The bill included provisions to increase the number of Border Patrol agents.
“I’m disappointed. And I’ll say this.” [Congress], please don’t quit. Please continue to work together to reach an agreement that will keep this country safe. ”
He said the Border Patrol’s job is not to process asylum seekers, and that without adequate staffing or other deficiencies, Border Patrol agents could be taken off the line to perform secondary missions. He emphasized that.
“While we are busy with this activity, the cartels are taking full advantage of it elsewhere along the border, bringing in who knows what and who knows what. ” Owens said. “These are the types of fentanyl that are just as dangerous to our communities as other powerful drugs and serious criminals.”
“So we can’t go out on patrol unless we have to deal with an influx of immigrants.”
Addressing the important issue of the high rate of single adult men entering the country illegally and applying for asylum, Owens later said that if the bill could provide legal powers to detain apprehended immigrants until they are sentenced to deportation. , said that the current problems would subside.
