The Biden administration has announced that Jason Owens is set to replace Raul Ortiz as acting U.S. Border Patrol Chief at the end of June. Owens was formerly the chief of Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector.
With 27 years of Border Patrol experience, Owens will become the third acting U.S. Chief of Border Patrol to lead the department workforce of roughly 20,000 agents under the Biden administration.
“I am proud to welcome Border Patrol Sector Chief Jason Owens as our 26th Chief of the United States Border Patrol,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
“I fear that Jason Owens will be, at best, a scapegoat to shoulder the blame for President Biden’s failing border policy,” Chris Russo, president of Texans for Strong Borders, told Texas Scorecard. “Unfortunately, without a significant change in policy from DHS Secretary Mayorkas or President Biden, we will continue to see the same failed policies in place.”
After Title 42 expired in early May, Ortiz announced his resignation after having served in Border Patrol for 30 years. Meanwhile, Owens has served as chief of Border Patrol in Del Rio since 2021. Spanning over 245 miles and staffed with 1,400 Border Patrol agents, Del Rio is one of nine sectors along the southern border.
“Jason Owens is by all accounts a great pick,” added Russo. “But his hands will be tied by this administration’s dogmatic adherence to open borders and minimum enforcement.”
According to Gov. Greg Abbott, the heightened insecurity at the border is a “direct result of [Biden’s] failure to enforce the immigration laws that Congress enacted.”
Thus, Texans are calling on Abbott to assume the powers present in the invasion clauses of the U.S. and Texas constitutions, which have been clearly laid out by former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in a step-by-step plan to stop the invasion at the Texas-Mexico border and secure the state.
