Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, who retired last year, called out President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the weekend for refusing to meet with him to discuss the border crisis while he served as head of the Border Patrol.

Ortiz made the comments during an interview on CBS News “60 Minutes” that aired on Sunday evening, which came after roughly eight million illegal aliens have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border under Biden’s open border policies. This record-breaking illegal immigration, where the number of illegal aliens that entered the country is greater than the population of the majority of states, represents the most significant increase in illegal immigration in U.S. history.

Despite presiding over the most severe border crisis in history, Biden and Harris never met with the chief of Border Patrol in his entire term in the position, which spanned from Aug. 15, 2021, until the end of June 2023.

Ortiz slammed the president and vice president for this failure, while also calling out the politicization of federal agencies.

“When agencies are making a decision based upon politics or whether they’re gonna get media coverage, hey, we’re gonna put all our personnel in this two-mile stretch,” he said. “What about the other 200 miles?”

“I’ve never had one conversation with the president,” Ortiz added. “Or the vice president, for that matter. And so I was the chief of the border patrol. I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem.”

After the reporter pointed out that they had witnessed dozens of illegal aliens crossing into the U.S., Ortiz responded: “We need to make sure that Central America, South America, Mexico, that those regions understand that if you pay a smuggler and you cross in between the ports of entry and you do not have a legitimate claim to some sort of asylum benefit, you’re gonna be sent back.”

The former Border Patrol chief was then asked whether the White House had been sending “mixed messages” to illegal aliens.

“Yeah, most definitely,” he replied.

"I've never had one conversation with the president or the vice president for that matter… That's a problem,” says Raul Ortiz, the U.S. Border Patrol chief under President Biden until he retired last year. pic.twitter.com/bWoZkFbnVc

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 4, 2024

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin, who has covered the border crisis for some time, responded to the clip of Ortiz’s interview in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter — where he highlighted all of the high-profile events that happened during Ortiz’s time as Border Patrol chief and questioned how Biden could have avoided meeting with him to address these issues.

“Think about how many high profile events happened in that stretch. 15,000 Haitians under Del Rio bridge, false whipping narrative, end of Title 42, record setting illegal crossings. And the White House allegedly doesn’t speak to the Chief overseeing 20,000 agents on the front lines?” Melugin wrote.

Wow.

Raul Ortiz, who served as the Chief of U.S. Border Patrol under Biden from August 2021 through May 2023, says he has never had a conversation with Biden or VP Kamala Harris.

Think about how many high profile events happened in that stretch.
15,000 Haitians under Del Rio… https://t.co/9JSeKvXgnN

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 4, 2024