Fox News Digital has obtained a video of a hearing where Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said that the Biden administration’s policies on immigration are to blame for the historic surge in illegal immigrants crossing into the United States border with “no consequences.”

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The hearing was on July 28 and was part of a lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice and other federal agencies by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. In the lawsuit, Moody asserts that the agencies named are not following the Immigration and Nationality Act, which is federal law, in regards to detaining and holding illegal migrants at the border until they’re sent back to their home country.

Moody pointed to a spring 2021 memo discussing Biden’s policies on immigration, as well as a November 2021 document outlining the “Alternatives to Detention” policy. The Alternative to Detention was implemented in 2004 by Congress and was created to help migrants in emergency situations. In those cases, the immigrants would be released at the border and allowed to enter but were required to be monitored by check-ins and GPS ankle monitors in some cases.

The border has seen double the amount of migrants placed on the Alternative to Detention policy under Biden over other presidents’ administrations.

Chief Ortiz, who has over 31 years of experience in law enforcement at the border, said that he believed illegal immigration at the southern border would continue to grow at an “exponential rate” given that there are “no consequences” for entering illegally. “In my experience,” he said, “we have seen increases when there are no consequences. There is an assumption that if migrant populations are told that there is a potential that they may be released, that, yes, you can see increases.”

An attorney for the plaintiff during the hearing asked Ortiz, “Since President Biden was elected, does this document indicate that aliens illegally entering the United States perceive that they will be able to enter and remain in the United States?”

“Yes,” was Ortiz’s simple answer.

Ortiz was asked whether the border is “less safe for Americans and aliens alike,” to which he replied, “Yes.”

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently admitted during the Aspen Security Forum that the immigration situation has hit a “historic challenge” but maintained his belief that the border is “secure.”

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As a new record has been set regarding the number of illegal immigrants crossing our border and being allowed to stay, Ortiz said he agreed that we are seeing “unprecedented numbers” of illegals.

“[The] Biden Administration has handed over operational control of our southern border to the cartels,” said former CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan earlier in August. “They have done this by purposefully dismantling every meaningful and effective border security measure in place.”

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement review found that the Alternatives to Detention policy has “little value” with “significant expense.” The review also found that the “vast majority of illegal immigrants enrolled in the program” eventually fled into the country without finishing immigration proceedings.

“After the Biden administration denied that they were engaged in catch-and-release and that they were responsible for the historic surge at our southern border, Florida got the chief of Border Patrol to admit, under oath, the truth,” Moody said after the hearing. “The Biden administration caused the surge, made the border less safe, and is flagrantly violating the very federal laws they swore to uphold. The Biden administration is putting hard-working border patrol agents in impossible and untenable positions — risking their lives and safety, and I want to thank Chief Ortiz for testifying truthfully at his deposition.”

The trial begins for the case in January 2023.

This piece was written by Leah Anaya on August 30, 2022. It originally appeared on RedVoiceMedia.com and is used with permission.

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