House Oversight chair requests interviews with 7 top Border Patrol agents as US fights ‘unprecedented crisis'
Committee says two Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agents have testified about crisis that has ‘set records’ for arrests
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sent a letter to the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Monday asking for transcribed interviews with top agents to learn how they are grappling with "Biden’s border crisis."
The desire to speak with the seven U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agents comes weeks after the committee spoke to the agents leading the Tucson and Rio Grande Valley sectors, who they say "testified about a crisis that has set records for the arrests of illegal border crossers, migrant deaths, narcotics seized, and suspected terrorists arrested trying to illegally cross the border."
That Feb. 7 hearing in Washington took place after the "Department of Homeland Security tried to prevent the four Chief Patrol Agents invited by the Committee from testifying," according to Comer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Both witnesses provided candid testimony, but understandably confined their statements and responses to the circumstances of their respective sectors and the unique challenges they confront in those sectors," the Republican from Kentucky said in a statement.
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is now seeking to speak with other Chief Patrol Agents. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"The uniqueness of each sector demonstrates a need for the Committee to obtain additional information regarding other sectors on the southern border," Comer added. "As one witness emphasized, ‘if you’ve seen one Border Patrol sector, you have only seen one Border Patrol sector.’"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Border Patrol agent walks between a gap along the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona on June 1, 2022. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is asking to speak to the head of that Border Patrol sector. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
"One of the witnesses testified that Border Patrol agents have valuable information and experience to guide lawmakers in search of legislative solutions," he continued. "The Committee believes Chief Patrol Agents managing other sectors have additional, valuable information that will assist the Committee in fully understanding the crisis at the southern border."
The leading agent in that sector spoke to Congress on Feb. 7 and offered testimony on a "crisis that has set records for the arrests of illegal border crossers, migrant deaths, narcotics seized, and suspected terrorists arrested trying to illegally cross the border," the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability says. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The letter does not include a specific deadline, but it does say the committee will go to meet the agents in their sectors to minimize inconvenience for Border Patrol.
The agents the committee is seeking to speak to lead the San Diego and El Centro sectors in California, the Yuma sector in Arizona and the El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio and Laredo sectors in Texas.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.