Cross-Examination Compels More Damaging Evidence Proving Biden Orchestrated Border Destruction

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We are using their own officials to prove to the court that the Biden administration knew its policies would create the chaos and destruction we now see at our Southwest Border. Regardless of the outcome of this monumental trial—WHICH WE WILL WIN—the evidence we have uncovered is shining a light on the fact that Biden purposefully destroyed federal immigration protections and caused the intentional release of hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the country.”

Under oath, Chief Ortiz testified that rapid, substantial changes in policy occurred right after the Biden administration took office. Those changes reduced the consequences facing border crossers and caused an increase in illegal immigration at the Southwest Border. Chief Ortiz also testified that changes and restrictions to processing pathways by the Biden administration left Border Patrol with no choice but to release illegal immigrants encountered at the border.

Border Patrol briefed senior Biden administration officials, including the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, as well as the Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security. Among other policy changes addressed in court Tuesday, Chief Ortiz testified that Border Patrol believed, contrary to federal law, that it should only detain certain individuals listed in a memorandum issued on Jan. 20, 2021, by Biden administration senior official David Pekoske. A court enjoined that policy within days of the start of the Biden administration. Yet, Border Patrol went forward utilizing those priorities in making detention decisions.

Below are excerpts from the cross-examination of Chief Ortiz.

Question: And, if you reduce consequences that deter migrant flows, illegal immigration is going to increase in the United States, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And, at the beginning of the Biden administration, the Biden administration reduced the potential consequences facing migrants traveling to the border, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: At the beginning of the Biden administration, the Biden administration reduced the potential consequences facing migrants and that increased flows to the border, right?

Answer: I would imagine that it had an impact on the flows that we were experiencing, yes.

Question: …So, the policy changes and the processing pathways that have been restricted by the Biden administration were going to cause the Border Patrol to have to release single adults and family units; is that correct?

Answer: That coupled with the reduced processing space or detention capacity within our facilities, and the increases in encounters that we were experiencing at the time all were part of that decision, yes.

Question: Okay. And, if ICE either doesn't respond to your detention request or one of your officer's detention requests or tells you no, Border Patrol just doesn't have anything to do other than to release?

Answer: We don't have a choice, you're right.

Question: So, you as the deputy chief of Border Patrol, when you got the Pekoske memo, thought that you should detain on a mandatory basis only those individuals listed within those priorities, correct?

Answer: That's correct.

To view written portions of the cross-examination of Chief Ortiz, click here.

To view deposition video of Attorney General Moody’s legal team deposing Chief Ortiz in preparation for the trial, click here.

Florida’s case, No. 3:21-cv-1066, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida began Monday and is ongoing. Trial kicked off with Florida presenting previously withheld evidence Attorney General Moody’s office obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

To view the evidence, click here.

For more information about the state’s case challenging Biden’s unlawful catch-and-release policy, click here.