Key keywords: ex-border patrol chief, illegal alien arrests, U.S. southern border security, Biden administration border policy, border patrol operational record, post-resignation interview, migrant trafficking prevention, fentanyl seizure at border Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott, who served during the final two years of the Trump administration and was forced to step down three months after President Biden took office in 2021, spoke out in a primetime cable news interview on Tuesday defending his tenure, stating that his biggest professional regret is not apprehending more unauthorized migrants crossing the southern border. Scott led the 20,000-strong federal agency during a period that saw a 53% drop in illegal border crossings between 2019 and 2020, following the implementation of policies including the Migrant Protection Protocols (commonly known as "Remain in Mexico"), Title 42 public health expulsions, and expanded border wall construction across high-traffic crossing sectors. During his tenure, border patrol agents seized over 1.2 million pounds of illicit narcotics, including 11,000 pounds of fentanyl, a 78% increase from the previous two years, and disrupted more than 400 human trafficking rings operating across border regions in Texas, Arizona and California. Critics of Scott’s tenure have accused his enforcement strategies of being unnecessarily harsh, arguing that his blanket expulsion policies denied vulnerable asylum seekers due process rights and contributed to thousands of family separations at the border. In response to these allegations during the interview, Scott pushed back, noting that all policies he implemented were fully compliant with existing U.S. immigration law, and that his top priority was always protecting American citizens from cross-border criminal activity. "I make no apologies for doing the job I was sworn to do," Scott told reporters. "Every illegal alien we don’t catch is a potential threat to public safety, whether that’s someone with a prior criminal record, a drug trafficker moving fentanyl into U.S. communities, or a person who will exploit our overstretched social services system without contributing to the country. I wish we’d had the full resources and unwavering policy support to catch every single person crossing illegally, and it breaks my heart to see what’s happening at the border now." Since Scott’s departure, southern border crossings have surged to record highs, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023 alone. Scott noted that current border patrol agents are hamstrung by new administrative policies that limit their ability to detain and expel unauthorized migrants, leading to plummeting morale among frontline officers. He added that he has continued to advocate for stricter border enforcement policies in meetings with congressional lawmakers, and that he plans to launch a non-profit organization later this year to provide financial and mental health support to border patrol agents and local communities affected by the ongoing border crisis.