A Hispanic Border Patrol official will attend the State of the Union as a guest of the White House in a move described internally at the Department of Homeland Security as an attempt to showcase a nonwhite agency representative.
A senior Department of Homeland Security official who spoke anonymously said Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz was picked because he is Hispanic, whereas his boss, Chief Rodney Scott, is white. A second official said race and the perception of the agency and administration were factors in the decision.
The choice helps President Trump make the case that his border and immigration policies, including his efforts to limit illegal immigration, are not race-based.
“It gets right to the ‘white faces’ stuff,” the first DHS official said, referring to a Washington Examiner report in November of Customs and Border Protection head Mark Morgan telling Border Patrol officials he had concerns about naming a white person to lead the agency. Morgan, whom President Trump fired in 2017 and rehired in 2019, is also white. Morgan ultimately selected Scott to replace Carla Provost, who departed last week. Ortiz was promoted from his post in South Texas to headquarters in Washington.
The same official said the White House usually asks agencies for guest recommendations. In this case, CBP would have offered up Ortiz and possibly Scott. It was not clear how many options CBP gave the White House.
The White House did not deny that Ortiz’s selection was based in part on his race, responding to questions only with a paragraph listing Ortiz’s biography. CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attendance of a top Border Patrol official suggests Trump will highlight his record on immigration, particularly the successful defusing of last spring’s border crisis. On Monday night, border apprehension numbers showing an eighth consecutive month of declines in Border Patrol arrests of people entering the country were leaked to the Associated Press.
The first official and another source at DHS familiar with the administration’s approach said Trump will dedicate a portion of his speech to his efforts not only at ending the humanitarian crisis at the border but to his opposition to “sanctuary cities.”
Sanctuary zones release illegal immigrants after they make bail or serve time, including those with criminal convictions, without notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal officers at ICE look at local arrests to see if a person is legally or illegally in the country and ask for them to be transferred into federal custody to begin the deportation process. Sanctuary zones mostly refuse.
The agency’s acting director, Matt Albence, began speaking out more on sanctuary zones late last year, and the agency’s effort to fight sanctuary zones in the courts is growing.
The White House announced Tuesday it will also shine a spotlight on Jody Jones of California, whose brother was killed by a person who had been living in the United States after being deported twice.
“On December 17, 2018, Jody’s brother, Rocky Jones, was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant in Tulare County, California,” a White House release stated. “The criminal alien who committed this brutal murder had previously been arrested for violent crimes and had twice been deported. The criminal alien was arrested in December 2018 for the sixth time, but because of California’s sanctuary state policy, he was released from jail. A few days later, he went on a 24-hour ‘reign of terror,’ injuring several people, robbing a gas station, leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase, and killing 51-year old Rocky, who was known as a kind and gentle soul. Rocky leaves behind a precious daughter and 4 brothers.”
Lawmakers bringing guests with an immigration theme include Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who has invited Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Vanessa Mendez; Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who will be with 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez, who said he hopes to join the Border Patrol after college; and Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who has invited Mary Ann Mendoza, the mother of a police officer who died as a result of a car crash involving an illegal immigrant.
