Reporter recalls harrowing encounter with human smuggler at southern border: 'I ran for my life'

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Rep. Elise Stefanik calls for Mayorkas to resign over 'whipping' scandal

The Daily Caller field reporter Jorge Ventura discusses his border visits, ripping the Biden administration over its lack of support for Border Patrol agents and recalling his encounter with an armed human smuggler.

The Daily Caller field reporter Jorge Ventura recounted his recent firsthand experiences at the crisis-ridden U.S. southern border on the day the alleged Haitian migrant "whipping" occurred, also sharing other harrowing encounters with Fox News on Sunday.

Ventura, who'd joined ‘Fox & Friends’ last month to share past experiences of his reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border, called what's happening there a ‘humanitarian crisis’ - noting that he'd seen children "basically abandoned by smugglers in the middle of nowhere."

During his latest trip to a border community in Arizona, Ventura told "Fox & Friends Weekend," Sunday, that he'd encountered an armed human smuggler firsthand.

"As soon as this human smuggler saw that I was filming him, he threatened me, he threatened to take away my phone and shoot me, and I think my mind just went into fight or flight," he told host Joey Jones.

"I just ran for my life, but it really just shows the realities of the border [crisis]."

MAYORKAS ALERTED THAT NO HAITIAN MIGRANTS WERE ‘WHIPPED’ HOURS BEFORE WH PRESS CONFERENCE

U.S. Customs and Border Protection mounted officers attempt to contain migrants as they cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Ventura said the human smuggler was taking cash payments in the area between the U.S. and Mexico border and added that the incident stands as a testament of how brazen smugglers have gotten.

STEFANIK CALLS ON MAYORKAS TO RESIGN AMID ‘WHIPPING’ SCANDAL

He also revisited controversial allegations that Border Patrol agents whipped Haitian migrants in an incident in Del Rio, Texas last year, citing evidence that points to the contrary.

"I was there that day, and there was no evidence of any whipping," he said.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during an April 2022 House hearing (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Ventura added that the Mexican photographer who captured the incident also dismissed DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas' perpetuated claim that migrants had been whipped during an interview.

"He said he never saw any whipping or anything like that," Ventura told Jones.

Border Patrol agents who fell under the Biden administration's scrutiny described their rhetoric as a "gut punch," according to Ventura, who pointed to allegations that the incident was racially motivated.

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"The administration never had their back and the public perception was that these Border Patrol agents were somehow the enemy, that they were White supremacists when a majority of Border Patrol agents are Hispanic." 

Sec. Mayorkas said last year that the incident portrayed the "worst elements" in the U.S.'s "ongoing battle with systemic racism."

REPORTER CALLS OUT BIDEN ADMIN, LIBERALS AS CHILDREN ARE ABANDONED AT BORDER: WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

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Ventura told Fox News last month that with more unaccompanied children on top of the huge influx of migrants, Border Patrol is completely "overwhelmed." 

The problem only seems to be growing.

"These are the stories that are happening every single day at our southern border, but they never get the outrage from the other side," Ventura previously told host Brian Kilmeade.

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Republicans and those living in border towns have called on Democrats and the Biden administration to focus on the massive influx of migrants and the inability for authorities and border communities to deal with the surge. 

Fox News' Maddie Coggins contributed to this report.