Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Border Chief Raul Ortiz in a one-on-one interview the recent tour of the U.S.-Mexico border they took was "tough" in part because some of the agents they met with acted "unprofessionally."
Mayorkas acknowledged Border Patrol agents' morale is at an all-time low because of the historic surge of illegal immigrants the agency has been faced with since President Joe Biden began his term last year. In leaked audio and video of agents' meetings with Mayorkas and Ortiz, it revealed the meetings were disastrous for the pair as agents did not hold back in their opinions of how poorly the Biden administration has been handling the border crisis they helped create.
One agent in the Yuma Sector got into a particularly harsh back and forth with Mayorkas, with the agent turning his back towards the secretary.
"Our entire workforce might not be aware of the pressure that the Border Patrol agents are under...in terms of the level of encounters at the border and the fact we need to get more people out in the field. We heard that from beginning to end. It was a tough trip because we confronted, I think, a workforce, I know, whose morale is struggling, is down," Mayorkas said, noting he has to address the issues.
Saying while he "appreciated" the "openness" with which agents spoke to him during the trip, Mayorkas added, "Couple guys might've expressed them what I thought was unprofessionally, which was surprising to me because it's something I've never seen in the Border Patrol...but the substance of what was communicated really called for action."
Chief Ortiz agreed with Mayorkas that he thought some of the agents they spoke with acted unprofessionally.
"I was also disappointed in some of the conduct of a few of the agents, which was showcased in some of the media platforms that are out there," he said.
DHS Sec. Mayorkas told BP Chief Ortiz their recent trip to the southern border was "tough" bc BP agents had low morale and some of the agents expressing their opinions were unprofessional. Agents leaked audio and video of the tense meetings they had with Mayorkas and Ortiz. pic.twitter.com/pYQQHrZpPw
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 18, 2022