The Biden administration has tapped Jason Owens to serve as Border Patrol Chief, according to an internal agency email sent by Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy Miller obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Owens has served in the agency for 25 years and is currently chief of the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector in Texas. Outgoing Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz announced his retirement on May 30 after overseeing the agency during a time of record migration at the southern border, where CBP recorded more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022 alone. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Florida Releases Video Showing Migrants Signing Waivers, Celebrating Arrival In California: ‘They Treated Us Super Well’)
“Over the course of his career, Chief Owens has demonstrated consistent dedication to the border security and homeland security missions, and to the men and women who carry out these responsibilities every day,” Miller wrote in the email
“I am confident that he will ably lead the U.S. Border Patrol into its 100th year and beyond,” Miller added.
Jennie Taer/Daily Caller News Foundation
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas applauded the latest appointment and Miller’s service to the agency, in a statement shared with the DCNF.
“I am proud to welcome Border Patrol Sector Chief Jason Owens as our 26th Chief of the United States Border Patrol. Chief Owens is a talented, selfless, and inspiring leader who is dedicated to the Border Patrol’s law enforcement mission, the men and women who fulfill it, and the country that we all serve. I have worked with Chief Owens; I am inspired by his commitment to the mission, and am grateful to him for his continued service in this new leadership role,” Mayorkas said.
Rank-and-file Border Patrol agents have applauded Ortiz’s exit in previous statements to the DCNF.
“He’s conveniently getting out so he can wipe his hands clean of any wrongdoing or blame,” one agent told the DCNF.
“He’s taken a lot of heat from agents. Maybe he remembered that he has a soul and a conscience,” another agent said.
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