President Joe Biden’s acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) openly criticized him during an interview, calling him out for the administration’s disastrous handling of illegal immigration and the subsequent border crisis.
Acting ICE Director P.J. Lechleitner made the remarks during an NBC News interview on Thursday, apparently choosing to finally speak out after remaining silent during his entire tenure as Americans were robbed, hurt, and even killed by all of the illegal aliens that Biden forced immigration officials to allow into the country.
During the interview, Lechleitner was asked whether Biden “should have taken action earlier” to secure the U.S. southern border from the massive waves of illegal aliens entering the country.
“Yes, yes, absolutely yes, he should have,” the acting ICE director responded. “The administration should have taken that action earlier, and I think the career people in DHS would have liked that.”
“All of us at DHS—I don’t know of anybody that wouldn’t have wanted that earlier,” Lechleitner added. “Law enforcement is always going to be on that side, where we want tighter controls, because for a while, you remember, it was 10,000+.”
ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner blasts Biden for delaying action on the border:
"Yes, yes, absolutely yes, he should have. The administration should have taken that action earlier, and I think the career people in DHS would have liked that." pic.twitter.com/T1Q7C45OGE
— Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) January 9, 2025
The NBC News interviewer, Julia Ainsley, also asked Lechleitner about how Biden refused to even mention the border crisis during an interview earlier this week when he was asked about any regrets he may have had about actions he took as president.
“Does that surprise you?” the NBC News host asked regarding Biden’s refusal to acknowledge the border crisis or its horrific consequences as a regret.
He responded by pointing out that Biden could have easily provided more resources to address border security throughout the last four years.
“No, but it is unfortunate because I think we could have done more,” Lechleitner replied. “We could have added more resources to it, with CBP and ICE, and we could have tried to get more of these individuals who are in the non-detained docket and moved more people. I think we could have used more resources and support. We could have done that the last four years.”
"Biden had an exit interview this week where he was asked about his regrets and he did not mention the border. Does that surprise you?"
ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner: "No, it doesn't surprise me, but it's unfortunate because I think we could have done more." pic.twitter.com/twOz4tQQBS
— Bobby LaValley (@Bobby_LaVallley) January 9, 2025
