Ten Border Patrol agents divulge their pick to replace Biden border chief Raul Ortiz
Anna Giaritelli
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EXCLUSIVE — Border Patrol agents around the country largely view Gloria Chavez as the front-runner to succeed Chief Raul Ortiz following his retirement at the end of June.
The Washington Examiner on Wednesday spoke with 10 tenured agents who ranged from regional management posts to those in the top echelon of its leadership. All but two said they expected Chavez, the leader of Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley region in southeast Texas, to be tapped by the Biden administration for the non-political job. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the press.
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Selecting a woman and a Hispanic agent for the top position in the 19,000-person organization would be significant given the Border Patrol’s lack of diversity at its top ranks over the past century. Chavez would be the first Latina to lead the organization.
Agents on the ground in Texas who worked with Chavez in her present role and when she was previously chief at the other end of the state in El Paso described Chavez in one of two ways: the sensible pick with proven results leading in crisis, while others viewed her as someone who could appease the Biden administration goals of diversity and inclusion in the federal government workforce.
“She did a tremendous job here in the El Paso Sector,” said a top El Paso agent who worked with Chavez during her assignment at a turbulent time in 2019 and said she had proved herself. “The good relationships we built with nongovernmental organizations was something we didn’t have before [she arrived].”
A second agent who has worked side-by-side with Chavez recently said he hoped she would get the job based on his experience working alongside her.
“The Chief from RGV Sector should get the job,” said a third agent. “Her handling of the surge [in Brownsville, TX] — it was the ideal way.”
As tens of thousands of immigrants illegally crossed the Mexico border into South Texas in early May, Chavez quickly surged personnel and infrastructure to the border and maintained order in a situation that could quickly have devolved into another Del Rio bridge catastrophe.
Several other agents said they expected Chavez to get the job, but added that she would not have been their first pick, in part because of her testimony before Congress earlier this year.
“I’m not crazy about her. She seems to candy-coat things in congressional hearings,” said a fourth agent. “I would prefer someone who loves the agents and the Patrol like Rodney Scott, but I know he won’t come back.”
Scott, an ally of former President Donald Trump, was removed under the Biden administration, clearing the way for the promotion of his deputy, Ortiz.
But away from the southern border and back in Washington, Chavez’s chances of promotion appeared to be far slimmer than those in the field believed it to be. Two of the top officials in Border Patrol who are clued into the high-level talks about Ortiz’s replacement cast doubt on Chavez’s chances.
“I think Gloria is no longer in the running,” said the fifth person, a Washington headquarters official. “Her husband’s trial looks bad, and I think some things about him will come up. Nothing that she did but will look bad that she is married to him.”
In 2019, Chavez’s husband was charged with the kidnapping and rape of a female Border Patrol agent. Gustavo Zamora, a senior Border Patrol official who worked in Arizona, awaits trial on sexual assault and kidnapping charges. Chavez told the El Paso Times in 2019 that “this situation does not reflect upon the integrity, character or leadership of the Border Patrol and CBP” and described herself as being a “victim of infidelity.”
Nine Border Patrol employees who spoke with the Washington Examiner in December 2019 said Zamora did not face internal discipline as agents are supposed to face and retired as a result of his connections to high-ranking officials who pulled strings to protect him.
Two weeks after Chavez’s husband was charged, Chavez was abruptly moved from her post atop southeastern California operations to El Paso. Chavez had been a top contender for an opening of national deputy chief leading, but Border Patrol officials told the Washington Examiner at the time that Chavez was viewed as a liability for the organization due to her affiliation with Zamora.
His trial has been scheduled for August, and he has pleaded not guilty.
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Only two other names were mentioned twice: National Deputy Chief Matthew Hudak and Tucson Chief John Modlin. The first of the Washington officials predicted Modlin, followed by Chavez. The second official named Modlin or Del Rio Chief Jason Owens as most likely.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Border Patrol and DHS for comment about agents’ predictions on Ortiz’s successor.