During a press briefing on Monday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, Rodney Scott spoke about the shooting of an off-duty CBP officer during an apparent botched robbery.
00:00Thank you for being here. Thank you, Madam Secretary, for all the support that you've given us and the support you're showing our officers today and the comments that you just made.
00:09My name is Rodney Scott. I'm currently the Commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection.
00:13But as I talk, I want you to remember that I was also the Chief of the United States Border Patrol until 2021.
00:19I want to really start by thanking the medical personnel here in New York City at the hospital, the EMS workers, and even the guys behind me in blue that have shown tremendous support to our officer and to his family as well.
00:34We should not be here today. The reason these two assailants are inside the United States today is because of failed border policies by the Biden administration.
00:44I personally warned the Biden administration against their open border policies in 2021.
00:50I was ignored, and exactly what I predicted, many of us predicted, happened, total chaos along the border.
00:57These two individuals, the two assailants, were released into the United States after being apprehended because of failed policies.
01:05President Trump stepped up and fixed those failed policies on January 20th of this year.
01:11With the support from Secretary Noem, we now have one of the most secure, we have the most secure border that I've ever seen in my entire lifetime.
01:20Much of that resolution was by fixing failed policies based on facts and evidence.
01:26Sanctuary city policies across this nation and some of these, and even states in some cases, are failed policies.
01:33The facts and evidence are there in front of you.
01:35It's time for local leadership and state leadership to step up to the plate like President Trump did, acknowledge crime is crime,
01:44acknowledge the fact that there's no global information system where we can vet these people coming into the United States.
01:50We do not know who they are, and we have to have border security where we simply know and control who and what enters our country, just like we do our homes.
01:58This should not be political.
02:01I'm calling on all state and local leaders to step up to the plate, get rid of these sanctuary city laws, and simply enforce the laws on the books.
02:10Work with your federal agencies so that we can actually root out these criminals from our neighborhoods.
02:15Last but not least, I should have said this up front, thoughts and prayers for our officer and his family,
02:21and I would ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers as well.
02:23Thank you for your time, but please remember this.
02:27This was 100% preventable.
02:30It was caused by bad policy, and it could be fixed with good policy.
