The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) and the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council — the two unions that represent Border Patrol and ICE agents, respectively, have shown no signs of changing their previously announced endorsements of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The unions have not joined some other supporters of Trump, including several Republican senators and governors, who withdrew their support after a 2005 audio recording of the candidate making vulgar and obscene comments about women was released recently.
Trump apologized for the more than 10-year-old comments, saying: “Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.” He added that the issue is “a distraction from the important issues we are facing today.”
The NBPC and the ICE Council apparently have accepted the Trump apology and have not rescinded their endorsements — something that greatly disturbed Joe Davidson, a columnist for the Washington Post, the newspaper which first released the offensive recordings in question. In an October 17 column, Davidson charged: “If his racist, misogynistic, narcissistic campaign does win, two unions representing thousands of federal law enforcement officers will have been accomplices.”
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While no decent person could approve of the past Trump statements that the Post dug up, equating them with “racism” is difficult to fathom. As for the unions, they have made clear in the past that their primary interest is enforcement of our nation’s borders and immigration laws — non-existent during the Obama administration. The union’s leaders see Trump as their best bet to have an ally in the White House who would support them in their pursuit of their duty.
Davidson quoted a statement that the National Border Patrol Council endorsement “came down to one issue, and that was border security,” said spokesman Shawn Moran.
The column went on to quote the union’s endorsement statement: “We don’t need a person who has the perfect Washington-approved tone.”
The union’s priorities are clear and straightforward, which should be easy for almost everyone to understand. They want to do their job of enforcing our immigration laws and protecting our borders, and to serve under a president who will back them up.
We reported in our article last April that the NBPC’s leaders — including Brandon Judd, the union’s president; Kenneth Palinkas, its past president; Shawn Moran; the union’s vice president; and Chris Cabrera, a spokesperson for the NBPC’s Rio Grande Valley council — have all been vocal in criticizing the Obama administration’s lack of enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.
The NBPC issued a press release on March 30 that stated part of the reason for its endorsement of Trump:
Mr. Trump is correct when he says immigration wouldn’t be at the forefront of this presidential campaign if months ago he hadn’t made some bold and necessary statements. And when the withering media storm ensued he did not back down one iota. That tells you the measure of a man. When the so-called experts said he was too brash and outspoken, and that he would fade away, they were proven wrong. We are confident they will be proven wrong again in November when he becomes President of the United States.
The union representing the nation’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and staff, the ICE Council, endorsed Trump last September. Their endorsement statement noted:
Donald Trump reached out to us for a meeting, sat down with me to discuss his goals for enforcement, and pledged to support ICE officers, our nation’s laws and our members. In his immigration policy, he has outlined core policies needed to restore immigration security— including support for increased interior enforcement and border security, an end to Sanctuary Cities, an end to catch-and-release, mandatory detainers, and the canceling of executive amnesty and non-enforcement directives.
In contrast, noted a report in Politico, the ICE Council said Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton supports furthering “amnesty” and is pushing a “radical” immigration plan that will lead to the loss of thousands of lives.
It is apparent that the situation along our border that impelled these two unions to endorse Trump hasn’t changed, so is not surprising that their endorsements are still in effect.
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