Podcast: "The morale of border agents is at rock bottom"

In the context of the war between Israel and Hamas, the southern border of the United States is experiencing one of its worst moments, with record numbers of immigrants trying to enter the country.

Thousands of people have entered without being processed by border patrol, and thousands of "persons of special interest" — who represent a potential risk to national security — have been apprehended in the last two years. In this podcast, we talk with Ken Oliver Méndez, Founding Director of Immigration Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), about the danger this can mean.

Given the risk that this situation on the border represents in a context of war in the Middle East and with Hamas calling its people to commit attacks around the world, Oliver states that for a couple of years, with the chaos at the southern border, many border patrol agents are wondering what needs to happen for there to be a change in the Biden administration. Is the administration going to wait for a terrorist attack to change its policies?; our interviewee asks himself.

The director of immigration policy at the TPPF recalls that almost 200 people on the list of terrorist suspects have entered this country. However, he claims that the most worrying thing is what the authorities have not found yet because there are more than a million people who have evaded border patrol. "Many of these people come from countries with strong terrorist activity," says Oliver.

Regarding the performance of the Biden Administration and the immigration crisis, Oliver describes the 'embarrassing' situation in which border patrol agents have been put, adding that morale among agents "is at rock bottom" due to the way this administration has treated them. It has prevented them from doing their jobs. "Secretary Mayorkas' Administration, specifically, does not allow agents to do their jobs."

When asked if he believes that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be removed from office, Oliver states that what is happening on the southern border is a critical situation, and Mayorkas is the main person responsible; therefore, he should leave.

Regarding the reasons why this administration has allowed the disaster to grow in such a way on the southern border, Oliver believes that it is on purpose and that the current government is a prisoner of an extreme left that does not recognize the validity of the laws and does not believe in enforcing the laws.