Border Protection agents are making it clear: There is a crisis on the southern border.

The Epoch Times interviewed Deputy Chief Border Agent Raul Ortiz, who said agents have missed some 25,000 illegal crossers due to insufficient physical border protections and agents.

Ortiz said there have been 120,000 apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley sector since October.

But he said there are 25,000 people “who have gotten away from us” and are somewhere in the country.

“We actually don’t know who they are,” he said.

“So far, here in South Texas, we’ve apprehended folks from 44 different countries. These are from the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran, you name it. We continue to see some increases in those numbers. Most of the people we apprehend are from Central America, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. But we do see folks from across the world, and probably, by the end of the year, I would venture to say that number, will get as high as 60 different countries we will apprehend people from.

“Those are the people who are trying to get away from our officers each and every day,” he said.

Ortiz addressed those who claim there isn’t a crisis on the border.

“It is certainly a humanitarian crisis, it’s a border security crisis, but more importantly, it’s a policy crisis that needs to be addressed at the highest levels,” he told The Epoch Times.