WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:07.774 Chief, good morning. 00:00:07.774 --> 00:00:08.441 Good morning, sir. 00:00:08.441 --> 00:00:10.844 Good to see the last time we saw one another. 00:00:11.144 --> 00:00:13.947 We were on the border together and I want to talk about that a little bit. 00:00:13.980 --> 00:00:15.448 Yes, definitely. 00:00:15.448 --> 00:00:16.716 Very long. 00:00:16.716 --> 00:00:18.752 And I think valuable trip. 00:00:18.952 --> 00:00:19.385 Oh yeah. 00:00:19.385 --> 00:00:23.423 I found it very, very valuable, very productive and very difficult at times. 00:00:23.456 --> 00:00:27.260 But let me let me take a step back because I know a little bit 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.196 about your background, but I I know our colleagues may not. 00:00:30.430 --> 00:00:32.932 Yes, sir. 31 years in Border Patrol. 00:00:33.466 --> 00:00:35.802 Yeah, in May. I'll complete 31 years. 00:00:36.169 --> 00:00:39.339 started out back in 1991 in San Diego, California, 00:00:39.806 --> 00:00:44.110 and I spent my first decade there working the line 00:00:44.110 --> 00:00:48.014 from the coast all the way up into the mountains of San Diego 00:00:48.348 --> 00:00:51.985 and really enjoyed those first 9-10 years of my career. 00:00:52.285 --> 00:00:54.988 I had tremendous mentors 00:00:54.988 --> 00:00:59.592 and supervisors that taught me, you know, when you have an agency 00:00:59.592 --> 00:01:01.995 and the Border Patrol's only 5000 strong at the time, 00:01:02.262 --> 00:01:04.497 we really had to lean on each other quite a bit. 00:01:04.864 --> 00:01:07.400 And then ultimately ended up transferring to Texas, 00:01:07.800 --> 00:01:11.237 my hometown Del Rio, back in 2000. 00:01:11.604 --> 00:01:16.209 And I really that's when I started to make that leap 00:01:16.209 --> 00:01:19.946 into leadership and management and became an agent in charge 00:01:19.946 --> 00:01:23.249 a couple of times at two different stations and then 00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:27.887 ultimately became a staff officer at the sector. 00:01:28.221 --> 00:01:31.991 And I enjoyed that, but I'm an operator. 00:01:32.025 --> 00:01:35.194 I loved getting out there and mixing it up with the agents 00:01:35.194 --> 00:01:39.532 and seeing firsthand, you know, the fruits of our labors. 00:01:39.866 --> 00:01:44.470 So it didn't take me long to end up going to Afghanistan for a couple of tours 00:01:44.804 --> 00:01:47.407 with the department. I ran our mission over there 00:01:48.441 --> 00:01:50.476 in 2009 and then again at 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:55.114 2010 to 2011, and then came back to headquarters 00:01:55.882 --> 00:01:58.618 for a couple of years and then went back out in the field 00:01:58.618 --> 00:02:01.687 and spent a good time on the southwest border in South Texas. 00:02:02.021 --> 00:02:07.260 So chief let me let me take a step back even before the Border Patrol, because 31 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:11.397 years in the Border Patrol, but that's not your entire career in public service. 00:02:11.397 --> 00:02:14.200 You were in the army before then. 00:02:14.200 --> 00:02:16.836 Eighth Infantry, if I remember correctly. You do. 00:02:16.836 --> 00:02:19.672 And I was stationed overseas in Germany. 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:22.909 I come from a long history of public servants. 00:02:23.543 --> 00:02:26.979 My parents, both my parents, my mother, my father were in the army. 00:02:27.013 --> 00:02:28.981 My grandfather retired from the army. 00:02:28.981 --> 00:02:30.349 And that was sort of a rule 00:02:31.651 --> 00:02:34.253 that my dad had laid down for both my brother and I, that 00:02:34.387 --> 00:02:37.757 we were going to join the service and give something back. 00:02:38.024 --> 00:02:39.826 And we both did that. 00:02:39.826 --> 00:02:43.196 He was in the second Ranger Battalion and then he became a Texas state trooper 00:02:43.462 --> 00:02:44.931 for about 29, 30 years. 00:02:44.931 --> 00:02:47.166 And then, of course, I joined the Border Patrol. 00:02:47.166 --> 00:02:50.670 The 2009 trip to Afghanistan. 00:02:52.405 --> 00:02:53.839 Tell us a little bit about 00:02:53.839 --> 00:02:57.743 not only about what you experienced there, chief, but what you brought back 00:02:57.743 --> 00:03:01.714 in terms of what you learned that applied to the work of the Border Patrol. 00:03:01.914 --> 00:03:02.215 Yeah. 00:03:02.215 --> 00:03:04.283 So when I went over there, sir, I'll tell you, 00:03:04.517 --> 00:03:07.587 it was a little bit by happenstance, fellow agent of mine 00:03:07.587 --> 00:03:09.355 that was an assistant chief at the same time. 00:03:09.355 --> 00:03:12.825 We both thought about putting in for a position running a task force 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:18.297 that was run by CENTCOM or Central Command in Tampa, 00:03:18.598 --> 00:03:22.401 and they were looking for a CBP lead, GS 15. 00:03:22.702 --> 00:03:23.903 And so when I put in for it, 00:03:23.903 --> 00:03:26.038 I really didn't know what I was getting myself into 00:03:26.038 --> 00:03:28.407 because I'd never been in this wartime environment. 00:03:28.607 --> 00:03:30.609 Back in the eighties, when I was in the service, 00:03:30.609 --> 00:03:35.047 it was, you know, during the Cold War days it so going over there 00:03:35.047 --> 00:03:36.148 certainly was eye opening. 00:03:36.148 --> 00:03:38.851 We had a very small team, but a very tight team. 00:03:39.151 --> 00:03:43.823 And then when I came back, the bug bit me the the overseas 00:03:44.190 --> 00:03:47.727 deployment and DHS had just stood up an office. 00:03:47.927 --> 00:03:50.730 Secretary Napolitano was running the department at the time 00:03:51.030 --> 00:03:55.334 and she asked me to go back as the attaché. 00:03:55.534 --> 00:04:00.139 And so that's when I joined the ranks of the senior executive services in 2011. 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:01.607 So I said I've been doing 00:04:02.842 --> 00:04:05.644 some sort of executive work for about eleven or twelve years, 00:04:05.644 --> 00:04:10.182 but back then we were very much all over the country in Afghanistan. 00:04:10.416 --> 00:04:14.520 So definitely tremendous exposure to some phenomenal leaders, 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:18.357 both in the military, State Department and the inner agency. 00:04:18.557 --> 00:04:20.559 And so it was quite exciting. 00:04:20.559 --> 00:04:24.897 Know you talk about San Diego, much smaller 00:04:25.097 --> 00:04:27.900 workforce than in the Border Patrol. 00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:30.569 You leaned on one another. 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:33.072 You know, what I experienced when we were down in the border 00:04:33.305 --> 00:04:35.441 is agents leaning on one another 00:04:36.208 --> 00:04:38.911 in an incredibly stressful 00:04:38.911 --> 00:04:42.014 situation because the need to lean on one 00:04:42.014 --> 00:04:46.685 another is so important right now, given what we're encountering 00:04:46.919 --> 00:04:49.321 and the fact that we need to get more agents out in the field. 00:04:49.588 --> 00:04:53.425 Has there been a dramatic change in culture over the 31 years? 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:55.394 And if so, how so? 00:04:55.394 --> 00:04:56.762 Yeah, so it's interesting. 00:04:56.762 --> 00:05:01.400 Back when I joined the Border Patrol, we had a senior patrol agent 00:05:01.734 --> 00:05:05.337 and then you had your journeyman agents and your senior patrol agents 00:05:05.337 --> 00:05:06.705 really taught you the ropes. 00:05:06.705 --> 00:05:10.109 Then you had supervisors and mid-level managers and people 00:05:10.109 --> 00:05:13.712 who ran the stations in the sector, but those journeymen agents 00:05:13.912 --> 00:05:15.547 were sort of the bread and butter 00:05:15.547 --> 00:05:18.484 because they managed the day to day stuff out in the field. 00:05:18.484 --> 00:05:21.153 And anytime you had an issue, you could go to them and say, 00:05:21.387 --> 00:05:24.456 OK, this is how we're going to manage this particular situation. 00:05:24.690 --> 00:05:25.724 We no longer have that. 00:05:25.724 --> 00:05:27.960 Our journeymen agents are all GS12s. 00:05:28.427 --> 00:05:32.398 And so there really, I think we've lost something in that. 00:05:32.631 --> 00:05:35.667 And so I always talk about, man, I'd love to be able to go back 00:05:35.868 --> 00:05:39.338 to having those senior patrol agent days because I think that 00:05:39.872 --> 00:05:43.709 as we start to hire new personnel from the military, 00:05:43.709 --> 00:05:46.445 they're coming out of college and whatnot quite often. 00:05:46.478 --> 00:05:51.817 This may be their first exposure to federal service or law enforcement work. 00:05:52.084 --> 00:05:54.219 And I think, you know, having that closer 00:05:54.219 --> 00:05:57.923 tie to mentorship out in the field is really, really important. 00:05:58.157 --> 00:05:59.725 And then back in those days, 00:06:00.726 --> 00:06:01.093 we didn't 00:06:01.093 --> 00:06:04.763 have the same level of exposure in media platforms. 00:06:05.030 --> 00:06:07.299 And of course, we certainly didn't have social media. 00:06:07.299 --> 00:06:11.336 And so I think our agents in this day and age 00:06:11.603 --> 00:06:15.040 are much more aware of these national level issues than we were. 00:06:15.174 --> 00:06:18.277 I was focused on what was happening in Southern California 00:06:18.443 --> 00:06:20.813 and what my agents were doing, and that was pretty much it. 00:06:21.547 --> 00:06:24.249 You know, we do have a greater platform. 00:06:25.951 --> 00:06:28.053 I think we need to use it more effectively. 00:06:28.353 --> 00:06:31.857 What I found on the border is that the communities on the border 00:06:32.257 --> 00:06:36.028 really have a tremendous respect and admiration for the Border Patrol 00:06:36.562 --> 00:06:38.931 when we get into the interior of the United States, 00:06:39.097 --> 00:06:42.634 the understanding of the mission and what we do 00:06:42.801 --> 00:06:45.938 is less understood and I think less championed. 00:06:46.238 --> 00:06:50.275 And I think we have an opportunity to really champion our Border 00:06:50.275 --> 00:06:55.147 Patrol agents if people on the front lines and in support of them. 00:06:55.447 --> 00:06:55.681 Yeah. 00:06:55.681 --> 00:06:59.952 So when you think about that, you know, 20,000 Border Patrol agents, 00:07:00.218 --> 00:07:03.055 then you add customs officers, you add ICE 00:07:03.055 --> 00:07:06.491 and all the other components that live and work in these communities. 00:07:06.758 --> 00:07:08.894 I mean, we're coaching Little League Baseball. 00:07:08.894 --> 00:07:13.065 You know, we're participating in these community organizations. 00:07:13.365 --> 00:07:17.002 Some of our folks lead city councils and school boards. 00:07:17.202 --> 00:07:19.338 And so we're ingrained in these communities. 00:07:19.538 --> 00:07:23.008 And so you're right, there is it's like a big family and these border 00:07:23.008 --> 00:07:27.879 communities, quite often they're separated from these urban populated areas. 00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:32.150 And so I think as you progress into the interior of the United States, 00:07:32.751 --> 00:07:36.188 the information and awareness about actually what's happening on the border 00:07:36.421 --> 00:07:37.923 becomes less and less. 00:07:37.923 --> 00:07:41.660 And I think I was at the Sheriffs Association meeting the other day 00:07:41.893 --> 00:07:45.530 and one of the sheriffs says every community is a border community these days 00:07:45.530 --> 00:07:47.332 because so much of what we're doing now on 00:07:47.332 --> 00:07:49.501 the border is affecting more communities. 00:07:49.501 --> 00:07:52.237 You know, one of the things that one of the priorities 00:07:52.237 --> 00:07:54.072 we're going to have for 2022 00:07:54.072 --> 00:07:57.976 is really building a culture of recognition within the Department 00:07:57.976 --> 00:08:01.279 of Homeland Security, not just Border Patrol, all our personnel. 00:08:01.580 --> 00:08:05.917 And then pushing out, championing our DHS personnel externally. 00:08:05.917 --> 00:08:08.019 And I think one of the ways to do that. 00:08:08.820 --> 00:08:11.623 I think there's no better messenger than our people. 00:08:12.157 --> 00:08:16.027 And seeing what we can do to have our people out in the community 00:08:16.328 --> 00:08:20.732 talking about the public service they perform for our country 00:08:21.032 --> 00:08:24.536 and actually giving them work time credit for that 00:08:24.536 --> 00:08:28.573 because I think it's really important for the American public and frankly, 00:08:28.573 --> 00:08:31.309 for ourselves to be out there with great pride 00:08:31.610 --> 00:08:35.113 in schools, city councils, whether it's a place of worship, 00:08:35.347 --> 00:08:39.117 what have you be out there and say, Listen, this is what what I do. 00:08:39.484 --> 00:08:41.786 This is what it means, and this is why I do it. 00:08:42.487 --> 00:08:46.791 When you think about, you know, a Border Patrol agent spends ten hours 00:08:46.791 --> 00:08:52.030 and all the professionals within DHS put forth a tremendous effort 00:08:52.330 --> 00:08:57.102 to doing whatever mission they have within their portfolio. 00:08:57.636 --> 00:09:00.472 But then they had this, you know, other period of time 00:09:00.705 --> 00:09:02.774 that I think they don't get enough credit for. 00:09:02.941 --> 00:09:04.509 None of us get enough credit for, 00:09:04.509 --> 00:09:07.445 and it becomes a bit of a challenge because everybody thinks, well, 00:09:07.445 --> 00:09:10.782 if you're a Border Patrol agent, this is who you are and what you do. 00:09:11.016 --> 00:09:12.751 Well, I've got kids. 00:09:12.751 --> 00:09:16.855 I have, you know, family that I am invested in 00:09:17.022 --> 00:09:20.859 and I've got, you know, hobbies that I'm interested in. 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:24.796 And so I really do think that we have an opportunity to show 00:09:24.796 --> 00:09:29.267 a different side of the department and more specifically, the Border Patrol. 00:09:29.267 --> 00:09:30.368 And I'm excited about that. 00:09:30.368 --> 00:09:34.272 I think that our workforce is tremendous, both our professional staff 00:09:34.472 --> 00:09:36.107 and our uniformed agents. 00:09:36.107 --> 00:09:39.711 And we've got to showcase them every chance we get because I think 00:09:39.711 --> 00:09:43.248 that tells the real underlying story of who we are as an organization. 00:09:43.348 --> 00:09:44.649 I couldn't agree more. 00:09:44.649 --> 00:09:48.787 You know, Chief, you and I took up a trip a couple of weeks ago, 00:09:48.787 --> 00:09:52.090 almost a couple of weeks ago, now started in Yuma, 00:09:52.090 --> 00:09:54.592 Arizona, moved to El Paso, 00:09:55.160 --> 00:09:58.830 caught a slice of New Mexico and then ultimately in Laredo. 00:09:59.063 --> 00:10:03.268 And our entire workforce may not be aware of the pressure 00:10:03.501 --> 00:10:05.803 that the Border Patrol agents. 00:10:06.271 --> 00:10:11.509 Are under and field operations as well in terms of the level of 00:10:12.544 --> 00:10:14.279 encounters 00:10:14.546 --> 00:10:17.682 at the border and the fact that we need to get more people out in the field. 00:10:17.749 --> 00:10:20.084 We heard that from beginning to end, 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:22.887 it was a tough trip 00:10:23.288 --> 00:10:26.658 because we confronted it, I think a work force. 00:10:27.258 --> 00:10:29.794 I know a workforce that 00:10:29.794 --> 00:10:32.297 whose morale is 00:10:32.630 --> 00:10:35.066 struggling, you know, is down. 00:10:35.566 --> 00:10:39.003 And that's, you know, a responsibility. 00:10:39.003 --> 00:10:40.805 I have to address it. 00:10:40.805 --> 00:10:44.575 And we certainly met when we got back with a whole team 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:46.911 about how we were going to address the challenges. 00:10:47.412 --> 00:10:51.015 I really appreciated the openness 00:10:52.150 --> 00:10:54.585 that with which the agents 00:10:54.585 --> 00:10:57.588 expressed their views. 00:10:57.588 --> 00:11:00.058 A couple of guys might have expressed them 00:11:00.058 --> 00:11:03.394 what I thought was unprofessionally, which was surprising to me 00:11:03.394 --> 00:11:06.497 because it's something I've never seen 00:11:06.998 --> 00:11:10.034 in the Border Patrol 00:11:10.034 --> 00:11:11.436 in my. 00:11:11.436 --> 00:11:12.103 What is it now? 00:11:12.103 --> 00:11:15.740 eight years of exposure, person-to-person exposure, 00:11:16.107 --> 00:11:18.910 but the substance of what was communicated 00:11:20.645 --> 00:11:21.379 really 00:11:21.379 --> 00:11:24.415 called for action and we're jumping on it. 00:11:24.415 --> 00:11:25.850 But we've got a lot of work to do. 00:11:25.850 --> 00:11:27.952 Any thoughts in terms of our trip? 00:11:28.319 --> 00:11:29.420 Yeah. So a couple of things. 00:11:29.420 --> 00:11:33.825 first off, I want to I want to say thanks for you participating in that trip 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:39.030 for the entire department, you know, having an opportunity to showcase 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:41.299 what's happening out there on the southwest border 00:11:41.499 --> 00:11:45.903 and then having you experience it at three different locations for three days, 00:11:46.070 --> 00:11:48.406 I think was very, very important to our teams 00:11:48.873 --> 00:11:49.941 because it does give you 00:11:49.941 --> 00:11:53.511 a sense of sort of the challenges that we face each and every day. 00:11:53.811 --> 00:11:58.449 I was also disappointed in some of the conduct of a few of the agents, 00:11:58.616 --> 00:12:02.186 which was really showcased in some of the media platforms that are out there. 00:12:02.386 --> 00:12:06.290 But I also was very, very proud of a big portion of the workforce 00:12:06.490 --> 00:12:08.526 because I think both of us heard, 00:12:08.526 --> 00:12:10.761 you know, Hey, we appreciate you coming down here. 00:12:10.862 --> 00:12:12.463 We appreciate you listening to us 00:12:12.463 --> 00:12:15.600 and we appreciate you taking that information and going back 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.869 and doing everything you can to improve the conditions here on the ground. 00:12:19.103 --> 00:12:22.974 And of course, when we came back, you brought everybody in and said, Hey, 00:12:23.107 --> 00:12:25.843 here are the 19-20 things I want you all to work on. 00:12:26.043 --> 00:12:29.113 And we're already starting to knock through some of those issues. 00:12:29.247 --> 00:12:31.849 And those are the things that affect our frontline agents. 00:12:32.283 --> 00:12:35.519 And, you know, those professional staff and it wasn't just Border Patrol. 00:12:35.686 --> 00:12:38.990 We have some great recommendations from our field operations, folks 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:41.125 on resiliency programs. 00:12:41.125 --> 00:12:43.527 And so I mean, motivation is tough. 00:12:43.861 --> 00:12:47.031 And I think every day leadership within 00:12:47.565 --> 00:12:50.701 the department as well as out in the field, 00:12:50.701 --> 00:12:54.105 I think we have to wake up and say, Hey, what's going to motivate us today? 00:12:54.305 --> 00:12:57.174 And I do think that our workforce is starting 00:12:57.174 --> 00:13:01.112 to recognize that, hey, we can make gradual improvements. 00:13:01.145 --> 00:13:03.047 It's not going to happen overnight. 00:13:03.047 --> 00:13:06.650 So, chief, we we talked about, you know, our trip to the border. 00:13:07.118 --> 00:13:09.520 What we heard and it was pretty consistent, 00:13:10.154 --> 00:13:14.892 from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, from sector to sector. And 00:13:16.594 --> 00:13:18.195 quite a lot of it troubled me 00:13:18.195 --> 00:13:22.099 and clearly has set the direction for us and we're jumping on it 00:13:24.101 --> 00:13:25.636 in response. 00:13:25.703 --> 00:13:27.938 As you know, I issued two memos. 00:13:27.938 --> 00:13:29.507 I find it. 00:13:29.874 --> 00:13:32.076 Unacceptable that 00:13:32.076 --> 00:13:35.546 with all of the sacrifice and service that our agents 00:13:36.680 --> 00:13:39.950 undergo and execute, that they have to worry 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:46.223 about being assaulted by people already in their custody and control. 00:13:46.223 --> 00:13:51.061 And as you know, I issued a memo after consulting with the Department of Justice 00:13:51.295 --> 00:13:54.398 that we're going to prioritize those cases for prosecution. 00:13:54.798 --> 00:13:55.032 Yeah. 00:13:55.032 --> 00:13:59.069 Now we've always had tremendous partnerships with our AUSAs 00:13:59.136 --> 00:14:02.606 and the Department Justice and the FBI who helps us prosecute these cases. 00:14:02.806 --> 00:14:08.145 But I think having you issue that memo really, you know, brings forth this, 00:14:08.145 --> 00:14:12.249 you know how important it is to make sure that our agents are protected out there 00:14:12.483 --> 00:14:15.753 and puts a consequence against those folks that want to do harm 00:14:16.253 --> 00:14:20.157 to any of our officers to include the Office of Field Operations. 00:14:20.391 --> 00:14:23.961 And then, of course, the second memo you issued was directly 00:14:23.961 --> 00:14:27.531 focused on getting more agents back out to those front lines. 00:14:27.731 --> 00:14:29.867 And so having those processing coordinators. 00:14:30.067 --> 00:14:32.870 And we've already trained several hundred of them out there 00:14:33.237 --> 00:14:36.940 working side by side with our Border Patrol agents under their supervision. 00:14:37.074 --> 00:14:39.109 I think it's going to be very, very important 00:14:39.109 --> 00:14:40.778 because that's a force multiplier 00:14:40.778 --> 00:14:42.813 and it allows us to get more agents out to the field. 00:14:42.846 --> 00:14:45.282 We have got to get those agents out into the field and 00:14:46.450 --> 00:14:47.017 the chief and 00:14:47.017 --> 00:14:50.788 I, we worked on a whole series of other actions, 00:14:50.788 --> 00:14:55.225 whether it's accelerating the the gaps and gates, you know, we've already 00:14:56.226 --> 00:14:57.594 greenlighted. 00:14:57.594 --> 00:15:00.664 I think it was 68 of them, but there are others 00:15:00.664 --> 00:15:03.667 that we saw, that we saw that we have to accelerate them. 00:15:04.568 --> 00:15:07.337 I think the important thing for the workforce to know is that 00:15:08.305 --> 00:15:12.042 we want to hear from the workforce and when we do hear from the workforce, 00:15:12.276 --> 00:15:14.912 we know what we have to do and we execute on it. 00:15:15.145 --> 00:15:17.081 And as fast as possible. 00:15:17.081 --> 00:15:20.017 And we really appreciate it because it is going to make a difference 00:15:20.017 --> 00:15:21.218 for our men and women out there. 00:15:21.218 --> 00:15:23.887 And I know the the new commissioner, 00:15:24.988 --> 00:15:26.757 it's been a number of weeks. 00:15:26.757 --> 00:15:28.692 I know he's out on on the border. 00:15:28.692 --> 00:15:33.096 As you and I speak, he's dedicated in the very same way. 00:15:33.297 --> 00:15:34.598 No, I think he's going to hear 00:15:34.598 --> 00:15:35.766 some of the same feedback 00:15:35.766 --> 00:15:38.836 you and I received over those three days, a couple of weeks back. 00:15:39.036 --> 00:15:40.504 And so he's just going to come back 00:15:40.504 --> 00:15:43.607 and hopefully pour some gas on some of these initiatives so we can get 00:15:44.074 --> 00:15:46.276 more resources out there to the field. And get it done. 00:15:46.410 --> 00:15:47.144 Yes, sir. 00:15:47.377 --> 00:15:50.247 You know, just for the sake of the workforce 00:15:50.681 --> 00:15:54.451 of the DHS workforce that's not familiar with, you know, what the Border 00:15:54.451 --> 00:15:57.621 Patrol agents do and what they experience. 00:15:58.555 --> 00:16:00.824 You know, hearing about it 00:16:00.824 --> 00:16:02.960 when I'm behind the desk is one thing. 00:16:03.427 --> 00:16:07.297 Seeing it is just so different 00:16:07.297 --> 00:16:12.102 and so impactful to understand that our personnel 00:16:12.536 --> 00:16:17.407 are on boats on the river, completely exposed 00:16:18.609 --> 00:16:20.410 to bad actors, 00:16:20.410 --> 00:16:25.849 not far away that they're on on, on ATVs 00:16:26.683 --> 00:16:30.754 are right on the border, exposed that 24-7. 00:16:31.788 --> 00:16:34.958 The the bravery, the sacrifice, 00:16:35.225 --> 00:16:38.862 the risk, the challenge, the difficulty. 00:16:39.196 --> 00:16:40.797 It's breathtaking. 00:16:40.797 --> 00:16:41.832 It's breathtaking. 00:16:41.832 --> 00:16:46.636 Sir, do you think about, you know, all the activities that make up the department 00:16:46.870 --> 00:16:49.406 and then even more specifically, make up the Border Patrol. 00:16:49.706 --> 00:16:54.778 And you saw probably a handful of those, whether it was us in the sand rails 00:16:54.778 --> 00:16:59.616 out there in the West Desert in Yuma, whether it was riding the ATVs in El Paso. 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:02.652 And we saw, you know, that we had some gaps that we needed 00:17:02.652 --> 00:17:05.889 to close, that we had some infrastructure that we need to put in place. 00:17:06.089 --> 00:17:10.927 And then, of course, going into Laredo and not expecting to get into sleet 00:17:10.961 --> 00:17:15.699 and freezing rain, you know, in 40 degree weather out on the boats 00:17:15.899 --> 00:17:19.569 and seeing firsthand that there's nothing in between 00:17:20.303 --> 00:17:22.939 our government of Mexico partners and ourselves 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:26.409 other than a river in those front line agents that are out there on patrol 00:17:26.409 --> 00:17:27.377 each and every day. 00:17:27.377 --> 00:17:29.379 And so those are the things that we can 00:17:29.379 --> 00:17:33.083 come back and put up on that list of 20 things that we want to work on now 00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:37.687 and then expand on that to help put us in a better position for success. 00:17:38.488 --> 00:17:40.657 Chief, do you miss the front line? 00:17:40.657 --> 00:17:41.691 Do you miss the field? 00:17:41.691 --> 00:17:42.158 I do. 00:17:42.158 --> 00:17:46.029 In fact, I'm getting ready to go back out in about three 00:17:46.029 --> 00:17:50.200 or four days, and I'm going to do a lot of what we just talked about. 00:17:50.433 --> 00:17:53.103 I'm going to hit some of the other sectors, more remote areas 00:17:53.336 --> 00:17:56.406 and spend some time listening to the agents 00:17:57.340 --> 00:17:58.141 I love. 00:17:58.141 --> 00:17:59.576 I'm a horse guy, sir. 00:17:59.576 --> 00:18:02.012 So I rode horses for a couple of years in San Diego, 00:18:02.145 --> 00:18:04.848 so hopefully I'm going to be able to get out with our horse patrol agents 00:18:05.048 --> 00:18:08.485 and some of the other operators out there and just see, 00:18:08.752 --> 00:18:11.521 you know, OK, what else do I need to work on specifically? 00:18:11.821 --> 00:18:14.291 Chief, how was it returning to your hometown 00:18:15.458 --> 00:18:18.261 as a Border Patrol agent, as a supervisor? 00:18:18.395 --> 00:18:18.662 Yeah. 00:18:18.662 --> 00:18:22.632 So when I went back in 2000, I thought, OK, I'm done. 00:18:22.899 --> 00:18:24.567 You know, I made it home. 00:18:24.567 --> 00:18:29.105 Everybody wants to go home, and it's quite challenging to get assigned your first 00:18:29.139 --> 00:18:32.742 duty station in your home town, and so it took me nine or ten years to get there, 00:18:33.043 --> 00:18:36.479 so when I got there, I thought, Well, as long as I'm running the station, 00:18:36.746 --> 00:18:40.817 I'm going to be very, very pleased and content with my life. 00:18:41.017 --> 00:18:44.921 But I will tell you that, you know, I yearn for, you know, 00:18:45.989 --> 00:18:47.223 opportunities. 00:18:47.223 --> 00:18:50.360 And certainly the department, the Border Patrol presented that to me. 00:18:50.560 --> 00:18:51.995 So it was nice. 00:18:51.995 --> 00:18:54.030 My 85 year old mother still lives there, 00:18:54.030 --> 00:18:56.499 so she likes for me to go back whenever I possibly can. 00:18:56.733 --> 00:18:59.736 But I also know that we've got a tremendous mission out there. 00:18:59.736 --> 00:19:03.373 And so being able to go around the country and see firsthand 00:19:03.373 --> 00:19:06.009 what our agents are doing is as exciting. 00:19:06.543 --> 00:19:09.546 You know, chief, when I was a a line 00:19:09.546 --> 00:19:13.650 prosecutor in the federal system, we were paid 00:19:13.750 --> 00:19:17.654 the same whether we were in the courtroom or supervising. 00:19:17.654 --> 00:19:19.389 So nobody wanted to be a supervisor. 00:19:19.389 --> 00:19:21.024 Everybody wanted to be in the courtroom. 00:19:21.024 --> 00:19:23.993 Then the pay scale changed and all of a sudden 00:19:23.993 --> 00:19:27.130 there was a lot of competition for supervisors. 00:19:27.130 --> 00:19:29.232 I always have reflected on that and wondered, 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.536 was that a good structural move of the government or not? 00:19:33.536 --> 00:19:39.209 But I do miss, you know, for me, I do miss the courtroom and prosecuting cases. 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:43.012 I remember getting memos from DC and sometimes wondering, Wow, you know, 00:19:43.513 --> 00:19:45.848 do these policymakers know what I do for a living 00:19:46.049 --> 00:19:49.118 because I'm in the courtroom fighting, fighting a fight, and 00:19:50.186 --> 00:19:52.288 I worry a lot about 00:19:52.355 --> 00:19:54.591 being one of the memo writers that the guys in 00:19:54.591 --> 00:19:57.794 the field are saying, Does he understand what we do for a living ? 00:19:57.794 --> 00:20:01.698 And that's the value of, for me and frankly, for people around me 00:20:01.698 --> 00:20:06.269 to get out there and see firsthand what the agents do. 00:20:06.502 --> 00:20:10.340 Now I think that's important, and you know, the advantage that the Border Patrol 00:20:10.340 --> 00:20:14.410 has is outside of one time the chief of the Border 00:20:14.410 --> 00:20:18.614 Patrol has always come from the ranks, and so we hit just about every rung 00:20:18.614 --> 00:20:19.482 on the ladder. 00:20:19.782 --> 00:20:23.786 and I still reach back to some of those retired chief from time to time and say, 00:20:23.986 --> 00:20:27.457 Hey, you know, how would you handle this or when you were the chief? 00:20:27.457 --> 00:20:29.025 Did you ever have to deal with this? 00:20:29.025 --> 00:20:31.994 Of course, I think all of them have told me that you're 00:20:31.994 --> 00:20:35.031 probably in the toughest, most difficult situation 00:20:35.031 --> 00:20:38.367 that any of us ever experienced when we were sitting in that same seat. 00:20:38.534 --> 00:20:40.670 But I do think that, you know? 00:20:41.871 --> 00:20:43.106 Hearing from those front line 00:20:43.106 --> 00:20:46.209 agents in those personnel out there, 00:20:46.209 --> 00:20:49.278 it is such a tremendous value for us because we want to validate 00:20:49.278 --> 00:20:51.514 some of the work around and then it tells us, Hey, 00:20:51.514 --> 00:20:54.317 you might need to change course because you probably got it wrong. 00:20:54.517 --> 00:20:55.218 That's right. 00:20:55.218 --> 00:20:55.718 That's right. 00:20:55.718 --> 00:20:58.354 And that's the that's the value of honesty. 00:20:58.721 --> 00:21:02.291 And if we can't be honest with one another, then we're really in trouble 00:21:02.291 --> 00:21:03.459 as an organization. 00:21:03.459 --> 00:21:05.862 So you talked about hobbies. 00:21:07.130 --> 00:21:09.031 Stressful job. 00:21:09.031 --> 00:21:11.067 Awesome responsibilities. 00:21:11.067 --> 00:21:13.169 What do you do to take it easy? 00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:16.272 So I do a little bit of everything I love to fish. 00:21:16.472 --> 00:21:18.541 That's my number one hobby. 00:21:18.541 --> 00:21:19.909 I try and hit the gym 00:21:19.909 --> 00:21:22.645 three or four times a week, not as I would like to do it more. 00:21:22.678 --> 00:21:24.981 But it does become 00:21:24.981 --> 00:21:27.083 sometimes quite difficult when we're traveling 00:21:27.083 --> 00:21:28.584 and doing some of the things that we do. 00:21:28.584 --> 00:21:30.286 And then I love to golf. 00:21:30.286 --> 00:21:33.022 I enjoy golfing a lot whenever I can. 00:21:33.055 --> 00:21:34.123 The weather around here 00:21:34.123 --> 00:21:38.794 hasn't allowed us to do much of that, but I really love the outdoors. 00:21:38.928 --> 00:21:40.429 That's why I joined the Border Patrol. 00:21:40.429 --> 00:21:42.798 So any chance I can get to be outside? 00:21:42.832 --> 00:21:44.200 I take advantage of it. 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:46.102 You know, I was chief. 00:21:46.102 --> 00:21:47.903 I was talking to Chief Huffman, 00:21:49.272 --> 00:21:50.439 who was 00:21:50.439 --> 00:21:53.643 really optimistic about the future. 00:21:54.944 --> 00:21:56.545 Talking about the training program. 00:21:56.545 --> 00:22:02.251 Talking about the talent that the Border Patrol recruits now. 00:22:02.251 --> 00:22:04.453 And, you know, just in speaking with you 00:22:04.453 --> 00:22:05.087 over the course 00:22:05.087 --> 00:22:08.357 of the months of your leadership, I know you share that optimism. 00:22:08.557 --> 00:22:09.225 I do. 00:22:09.225 --> 00:22:12.728 In fact, next month, I'm headed out to the academy to visit with our 00:22:13.796 --> 00:22:16.866 new agents out there and some of our processing coordinators 00:22:17.066 --> 00:22:21.837 because I do think we're making some huge strides in the maturity 00:22:22.038 --> 00:22:27.009 of our workforce compared to, you know, when I came in as far as training goes. 00:22:27.143 --> 00:22:29.078 We expose them to so much more. 00:22:29.078 --> 00:22:34.884 And I do think that there's an opportunity for us to continue to add to that. 00:22:34.884 --> 00:22:36.318 So I'm optimistic. 00:22:36.318 --> 00:22:39.789 I do know that we've got some challenging times ahead of us. 00:22:40.389 --> 00:22:42.691 We're busy across the board. 00:22:42.691 --> 00:22:45.561 When I first started, San Diego was the busiest place in the country. 00:22:46.529 --> 00:22:49.865 The other sectors, you know, had traffic, but not to the same degree. 00:22:50.065 --> 00:22:53.736 Now there isn't a place along the southwest border that isn't busy, and now 00:22:53.736 --> 00:22:57.139 we're experiencing some of challenges up on the northern border. 00:22:57.339 --> 00:23:01.110 So we've got to continue to do everything we can 00:23:01.343 --> 00:23:04.480 to provide those resources to our workforce, 00:23:04.647 --> 00:23:06.382 which I figure I feel like that's 00:23:06.382 --> 00:23:10.019 my number one responsibility is to resource them adequately. 00:23:10.286 --> 00:23:11.120 I chief I. 00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:12.888 I feel the same. 00:23:12.888 --> 00:23:20.095 You know, the trip that we took it, I have very serious amount of work to do and 00:23:21.096 --> 00:23:22.331 not only a serious amount, 00:23:22.331 --> 00:23:26.368 but serious work to do because it's all about delivering for our people. 00:23:27.069 --> 00:23:31.307 And I know for the team here in D.C. 00:23:31.307 --> 00:23:35.878 that are working very closely with the team over at the department here. 00:23:36.512 --> 00:23:40.316 We the communication and your constant involvement 00:23:40.716 --> 00:23:43.686 on some of those issues that are affecting those frontline border agents 00:23:43.886 --> 00:23:46.722 and they get means an awful lot to most of us because we see it right. 00:23:46.956 --> 00:23:49.692 A lot of folks who do not what I see it each and every day. 00:23:49.725 --> 00:23:51.593 So I do appreciate that. 00:23:51.593 --> 00:23:54.296 Chief, I don't know if you're a better fisherman 00:23:54.797 --> 00:23:57.733 than a golfer or a better golfer than a fisherman, but I'll tell you this 00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:01.136 I am pretty confident, no matter how good you are at either one of them, 00:24:01.570 --> 00:24:05.107 you're not as good as a fisherman or golfer, as you are a leader. 00:24:05.441 --> 00:24:06.575 And I just want to be. 00:24:07.810 --> 00:24:09.178 I just want to express 00:24:09.178 --> 00:24:12.748 really to all the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. 00:24:13.015 --> 00:24:15.217 Chief Ortiz was 00:24:15.217 --> 00:24:19.655 on the verge of retirement and I asked him to 00:24:20.589 --> 00:24:24.159 to give more than the 31 years he's already given. 00:24:24.326 --> 00:24:26.395 Not counting service in the 00:24:27.429 --> 00:24:30.299 in the army and characteristic 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:33.368 of who you are chief and your dedication to country. 00:24:34.336 --> 00:24:35.237 You didn't hesitate. 00:24:35.237 --> 00:24:37.272 I just want to say thanks a lot. Thank you, sir. 00:24:37.372 --> 00:24:39.308 Thank you, chief. Appreciate it. Thank you.