El Paso, New Mexico
February 24, 2023
A Google search for "what does Border Patrol say we need at the southern border" took me to this podcast with the former chief of the Border Patrol. The interview is from earlier this week so it's timely.
The most useful part I found was the description of what goes on between the formal border crossings.
I have no reason not to believe him on how the current border situation compares to earlier times.
Clearly his politics come through. I really wish we could treat the border apolitically because discussing it politically means the language gets supercharged. Perhaps I am sarcastic about lawmakers calling out people for lying when that's what lawmakers do. Last I checked lying is a sin.
Here's Scott's bio:
INTERVIEW | Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott Explains How Cartels Control Southern Border
The Daily Signal Podcast
Whether it's a family or a single male, the drug cartels play a role in every illegal crossing into the U.S. at the southern border, former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott says. “They're either directly paying the cartels or the cartels are controlling their movements for another benefit, meaning to systematically overwhelm Border Patrol, create a gap in the border security, and then bring the narcotics across,” Scott says. Scott, who worked in U.S. Customs and Border Protection for three decades, served as the 24th chief of the Border Patrol from Jan. 24, 2020, until Aug. 14, 2021.
Through his decades of work on the border, Scott says, he observed that “every single day, almost without exception until January of 2021 [when President Joe Biden took office], the border was getting more and more secure.” The cartels are taking advantage of the Biden administration’s border policies, Scott says, explaining that because most illegal aliens coming across the border are released into the U.S. interior, the cartels “push [asylum-seekers] all across at the same time.” The result, he says, is that “it overwhelms all the law enforcement resources so that [the cartels] can push a second wave through, commonly referred to nowadays as 'gotaways.'" The gotaways tend to be individuals who are "willing to pay more to not encounter a law enforcement officer,” Scott says, adding, “That's where most of the narcotics [are]. That's where most of the criminal aliens are.” Scott joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss the long-term implications of Biden’s border policies and why Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is allowing the crisis to continue at the southern border. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Scott's career:
Scott joined the Border Patrol in 1992, and has served in various leadership positions within the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including the El Centro Sector's chief patrol agent; the San Diego Sector's deputy chief patrol agent; patrol agent in charge at the San Diego Sector's Brown Field Station; assistant chief in CBP's Office of Anti-Terrorism in Washington, D.C.; and division chief and director for the Incident Management and Operations Coordination Division at CBP Headquarters.
As Chief, Scott supported President Trump's border wall, and was critical of Democrats who favored other ways of addressing illegal aliens. Scott refused to support President Biden's directive to stop using legal words like "illegal alien" in favor of descriptors like "migrant". Between March 2021 and May 2021, a record number of unaccompanied children were picked up along the border, which forced many to be placed in shelters after federal border facilities were overwhelmed. In June 2021, Scott released a statement saying he had been "given the option to resign, retire or relocate with no rationale provided...so the new administration can place the person they want in the position". Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz will serve as interim chief.
Since illegal drugs are part of the border issue, I looked up drug addiction is the US. I was shocked by these statistics:
It is political simply because one party believes we should have open borders to the world; the other thinks that we should at least know who is coming in and and we should endeavor to make sure bad actors (MS-13, terrorists) should be stopped at the border. It is that simple.