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‘We Need To Finish The Job’ — Border Patrol Sector Chief Explains Firsthand Why A Border Barrier Is Desperately Needed

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Acting Chief Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz gave a firsthand account of why border barriers work and why it’s so important to “finish the job” already begun in his sector, which includes the Rio Grande Valley.

Ortiz started his Thursday on-location interview with Sean Hannity by telling the Fox News host that it would only take “15, 20 seconds” to walk to Mexico from where they are standing.

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Citing the example of another sector that went from 5 to 64 miles of fencing, decreasing illegal crossings by over 90 percent, Hannity asked Ortiz if fencing would have a similar result in his sector.

“Most definitely,” said Ortiz. “We have about 55 miles of fencing already in this sector, and it’s on our east side. It accounts for about 6 percent of my traffic. On my west side where I have very little fencing and very little technology it accounts for 94 percent of my traffic. And so we need to finish the job. I have got 35 Gates that are wide open. We have started construction on those gates.”

Ortiz praised President Trump as the “first president to come down here since I have been down here in five years.” (RELATED: Christian Theologian Makes Case That God Supports Trump’s Border Wall)

“During 2014 we had the humanitarian crisis with unaccompanied children,” he said, “I didn’t have anybody from the White House come down here and show the support for the men and women of the border patrol, CBP and DHS. Having the president come down here means an awful lot.”

Ortiz then responded to a question from Hannity about Democrats calling it a “manufactured crisis.”

“So, in 2014 we apprehended 256,000 people,” said Ortiz. “We are on pace to apprehend over 200,000 people. Just yesterday I apprehended 133 people from different countries other than Central America and Mexico … From Pakistan, India, Romania, China, on and on and on.”

“Just in this sector alone,” Ortiz continued, who clarified that he was indeed talking about one day. “450 people were apprehended total. We continue to see increases. We are averaging about 620 a day in this sector.”

The two later discussed the problem of drugs and the money drug cartels make from people who cross.

“But I think what middle America and most people don’t realize is our cartels are making tons of money off of everybody who crosses this river,” said Ortiz. “$1.7 million a week are made into the cartel’s pockets from the unaccompanied children and family units that are crossing.”

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