Former acting ICE chief Ron Vitiello blames 'loopholes in immigration law' for border crisis

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Former acting ICE chief blames 'loopholes in immigration law' for border crisis

Ron Vitiello slammed Democrats for pushing a fake story on agents whipping migrants at the border, challenging the left to look at how the crisis has mounted thus far.

Former acting Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Chief Ron Vitiello blamed "loopholes in immigration law" for the crisis at the southern border during an interview on "Fox & Friends First" Thursday. 

"They need to take a look at why this is occurring," stated Vitiello. "This is occurring because there are loopholes in the immigration law that allow people to come to the border unfettered."

Thousands of migrants, many of Haitian descent, have camped under a bridge near Del Rio, Texas, although many are being released into the United States while some are being deported. 

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"Mexico stopped helping weeks ago as it relates to this grouping, and like you said earlier, many of them are going to get released into the country if they're caught or if they're encountered by the Border Patrol," said Vitiello.  

"Many of my former colleagues are distracted by caring for this group instead of patrolling that border, keeping drugs out and finding human traffickers, they're doing this work instead."

There have been as many as 14,000 migrants near the encampment, and many officials warn thousands more could be en route.

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"I don't know how this gets better quickly and then you think about the conditions that those agents are in and their families, they have to have the mixed among these five at one time, 10000 people under that bridge."

"They have to keep them safe, they have to care for them, bring them food, water and all of the things to keep them comfortable while they're waiting," said Vitiello. "And then they have to go home to their own families, and here we are, these politicians - all of a sudden they care about what's going on in the border."

Vitiello also pushed back on claims that Border Patrol on horseback used whips against migrants at the southern border, which has since been debunked. 

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"They use the thinnest excuse possible to turn this from a humanitarian crisis near disaster into something about police brutality or, you know, not wanting to use horses to control crowds in in our own country, at our own border," said Vitiello. 

Illegal immigrant encounters are up over 500% in 2021, according to government data, with little likelihood of subsiding anytime soon.