Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz will step down from his post atop the 19,000-person law enforcement organization in the coming weeks following nearly two years at his post.
Ortiz, an agent of 32 years, shared during a phone call early Tuesday afternoon with several dozen regional chiefs, deputy chiefs, and headquarters officials that he would retire at the end of June, according to one person on the call. A second source confirmed the call took place and Ortiz made the announcement.
Ortiz made news in February 2020 when he was selected by the Trump White House to be a guest at the president’s annual speech. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security described the move as an attempt by the Trump administration to showcase a nonwhite agency representative given that Scott, then chief, was white. The choice was meant to help then-President Donald Trump make the case that his border and immigration policies, including his efforts to limit illegal immigration, were not racially motivated.