U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said over the weekend that the illegal immigrant crisis at the southern border is a “national security threat” that is keeping him up at night.
Speaking during a Sunday interview with CBS News “Face The Nation,” Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens addressed the control Mexican drug cartels are exerting on the rules of engagement at the border.
“They dictate what the flow is going to look like, and we respond to it. Then we try and get out in front of it and deny them the ability to use these areas, especially ones that we think are going to be dangerous for us and for the migrants. But at the end of the day, there’s over 1,900 miles of border with Mexico,” he said.
“Now, when you talk about 20,000 border patrol agents, that sounds like a lot. But when you multiply that by 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across the entirety of the year, that number starts to dwindle very fast. And that’s exactly what they’ll do. The tactic is, they’ll push groups across knowing that we’re going to respond from a humanitarian perspective and make sure that they’re safe. And while we’re tied up and occupied doing this, what are they doing a couple miles down the road?” he added.
Owens went on to talk about how the entry of foreign nationals into the U.S. illegally worries him.
“We’re closing in on a million entries this fiscal year alone. That number is a large number, but what’s keeping me up at night is the 140,000 known gotaways. That is a national security threat,” he stated, adding, “Border security is a big piece of national security. And if we don’t know who is coming into our country and we don’t know what their intent is, that is a threat. And they’re exploiting a vulnerability that’s on our border right now.”
Just a few days before Owen’s remarks, the Border Patrol Union blasted the Biden administration for the “anarchy” it created at the border after a mob of illegal immigrants clashed with the Texas National Guard on Thursday.
“This is only going to get worse. It’s just the beginning. The anarchy Joe Biden and his radical leftist mob have unleashed on Americans is despicable,” the union wrote on X in reaction to footage of the incident.
This is only going to get worse. It’s just the beginning.
The anarchy Joe Biden and his radical leftist mob have unleashed on Americans is despicable.pic.twitter.com/Q921xmyTsR
— Border Patrol Union – NBPC (@BPUnion) March 21, 2024
