Vice President Kamala Harris never spoke to either chief of the U.S. Border Patrol under the Biden administration, despite the former California senator’s appointment as the White House “border czar” three years ago.
On Monday, NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley wrote on X that Harris, who launched her bid for her party’s presidential nomination Sunday, has yet to speak with Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, “who has been in the position for the last year.”
NEW: I just confirmed that VP/Border Czar Kamala Harris has not talked with Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, who has been in the position for the last year.
The same goes for retired BP Chief Raul Ortiz who disclosed back in March that he never “had one conversation” with the…
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) July 22, 2024
Owens’ predecessor, Raul Ortiz, who led the law enforcement agency from 2021 to 2023, told CBS in March that he “never had one conversation with the president or the vice president” during his tenure.
“I was the chief of the Border Patrol; I commanded 21,000 people. That’s a problem,” Ortiz said on “60 Minutes.”
Harris was tasked with handling the administration’s response to the southern border crisis re-ignited by President Joe Biden’s election in 2020. In March, Ortiz said that Biden was “most definitely” sending “mixed messages” to migrants who plan to cross the border.
Owens also told CBS News in a March interview the situation at the southern border has deteriorated into a “national security threat.”
