Pavlich: The tattered mission of Border Patrol

Each year through the budgetary process, Congress allocates approximately $2 billion to Border Patrol. The funding is justified and defended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which claims “DHS works to protect the American people and economy by preventing the illegal movement of people and contraband across U.S. borders while facilitating legitimate trade and travel.”

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the mission of the force is to, “Protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity.”

Further, the core values include a dedication to “defending and upholding the Constitution of the United States.” Integrity is touted as the “cornerstone” of the work agents do, guided “by the highest ethical and moral principles” bringing “honor to ourselves and our agency.”

But since President Biden took office in January 2021, the unofficial mission of Border Patrol has shifted to processing millions of illegal immigrants. This takes important time away from essential frontline patrols and drug interdictions. As a consequence, Border Patrol has become detached from its stated mission and priorities.

On Oct. 4, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security announced it was reimplementing Title 42, which requires the immediate expulsion of single adults. 

“The Department of Homeland Security will continue to process individuals in accordance with the updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Title 42 Order. As part the United States’ COVID-19 mitigation efforts, DHS will continue to expel single adults and families encountered at the Southwest Border,” the Department of Homeland Security released in a statement.

Since then, the policy has hardly been enforced, and recent video footage obtained by Fox News shows thousands of single adult males being processed, put onto planes or buses and taken to cities across the country for release. Worse, Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed many of the men released have serious and violent criminal records. 

According to U.S. Code, “domestic transportation of unauthorized aliens, concealing or harboring unauthorized aliens, encouraging or inducing unauthorized aliens to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy or aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts” is a federal crime. The federal government has engaged in the transport of countless illegal immigrants.

Tensions boiled over last week when agents openly confronted Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz about illegal immigration and how leadership is handling the situation. 

“Under this administration, in the last year, we’ve got the highest fentanyl deaths in the history of our country,” one agent said. “How many [fentanyl seizures] are we missing because we’re focusing on these families?”

“For evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Good men are doing nothing. You’re allowing illegal aliens to be dropped off in communities,” another added.

Ortiz shot back by claiming he shows up every day to “carry out the mission,” but did not clearly define what that mission is or address concerns about Biden’s border policy violating the law enforcement agency’s official mission.

“We continue to do the job and the mission that we signed up for. We all signed up for it, we all raised our hand,” Ortiz said. “Everyday I wake up and I’m committed to this organization.” 

Meanwhile, calls for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to step down are growing louder as he knowingly mandates the violation of U.S. immigration law. 

“He has lost the trust and confidence of the men and women of DHS law enforcement,” former Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said during a recent event at the Heritage Foundation. “I continue to speak with our frontline agents, and their anger, exhaustion, and frustration with this secretary are apparent. He has not only destroyed the most secure border in our lifetime—he has repeatedly lied to the American people about the cascading impacts to our country’s public safety, health, and national security.”

American taxpayers are owed a Border Patrol that lives up to its mission to protect the country — not one that simply processes law breakers through a system that ultimately places them into American communities. What’s happening at the border and the behavior of so-called leadership is anything but honorable. Worse, implementing President Biden’s open border agenda has forced agents to unwillingly violate their oaths and to disregard the law.

Pavlich is the editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.