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The head of the U.S. Border Patrol will be leaving the Biden administration, according to an email he sent to staff on Tuesday.
Chief Raul Ortiz said he will retire from federal service after serving for more than 30 years.
“After a 32-year Border Patrol career spanning multiple Sectors, HQ tours, and overseas assignments in Afghanistan, I have decided to retire from federal service on June 30th,” he wrote, according to the Daily Caller. “I have proudly served in the Armed Forces and across this country and enjoyed every opportunity I have had to work for and on behalf of the American people.”
Ortiz wrote that he feels he can retire “at ease, knowing we have a tremendous uniformed and professional workforce, strong relationships with our union partners, and outstanding leaders who will continue to tirelessly advocate for you each day.”
“Throughout the years, my level of commitment to the mission and our great nation has never wavered,” he noted further. “Serving as your Chief has been one of the greatest honors and privileges I have had and please know I will always champion this agency, its mission, and the people who make the Border Patrol everything that it is.”
The announcement follows a prolonged period of ongoing challenges at the U.S. southern border, made worse after President Joe Biden reversed most of former President Donald Trump’s border security policies on his first day in office. The policy changes created incentives for a significant influx of migrants to enter the U.S. unlawfully, the Daily Wire noted.
Raul Ortiz is retiring from his Border Patrol Chief position https://t.co/nqfYLp1a12
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 31, 2023
Earlier this year, Ortiz provided testimony to Congress stating that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lacks operational control over the U.S. southern border under the Biden administration. This claim directly contradicted a statement made by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during previous testimony.
Also Tuesday, Trump provided a glimpse into an executive order he said he would issue on his first day back in the Oval Office to stop so-called “chain migration.”
In a video posted to Dropbox by his campaign, Trump ripped Biden’s immigration and border policies as obscenely inappropriate while touting details of the proposed order.
“Joe Biden has launched an illegal foreign invasion of our country, allowing a record number of illegal aliens to storm across our borders,” Trump said, according to Newsmax. “From all over the world they came. Under Biden’s current policies even though these millions of illegal border crosses have entered the country unlawfully, all of their future children will become automatic U.S. citizens. Can you imagine?
“As part of my plan to secure the border on day one of my new term in office, I will sign an Executive Order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward,” Trump said, “the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship.
“It’s things that bring millions of people to our country, and they enter our country illegally. My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming and encourage many of the aliens that Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their country. They must go back,” e said.
“My order will also end the unfair practice known as birth tourism where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the planet squat in hotels for their last few weeks of pregnancy to illegitimately and illegally obtain us citizenships for the child,” he said, “often to later exploit chain migration, they jump the line and get green cards for themselves and their family members.”
“We will secure our borders, and we will restore sovereignty starting on day one,” Trump proclaimed.