Border Patrol Chief Says Cartels Using Illegal Immigrants to Distract Agents

Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said cartels are flooding the southern border with illegal aliens to distract agents so they can smuggle drugs into the country.

Jason Owens, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, at the Border Patrol training facility in Artesia, N.M., on April 1, 2021. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said the Mexican drug cartels are flooding the southern border with illegal immigrants in part as a distraction so that they can smuggle “other things,” including drugs and convicted sexual predators, into the United States.

Mr. Owens made the remarks during an interview that aired on ABC News’s “This Week” on Sept. 24, pointing out that the historic numbers of illegal border crossings under the Biden administration “isn’t sustainable” and is “about as bad” as he’s ever seen it.