U.S. Border Patrol agents’ union-dues money is being used to fund a variety of pro-amnesty and anti-border enforcement politicians while agents are being denied the full benefits they were expecting in case of trouble, revealed Liberty News Network national correspondent Andy Ramirez in a new video report.
During an exclusive interview with LNN last month, jailed border agent Jesus Diaz’s wife Diana (left) said that the union had essentially failed in its responsibility to offer the best defense possible for her husband. The local union responded that it had indeed provided an attorney through the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC).
But Ramirez reported that there is more to the story. For instance, the union claimed the Diaz family did not pay for an attorney, which is false. The family paid more than $10,000 for private counsel, who, according to Ramirez, was far more qualified to deal with the situation than the attorney obtained through the union and PORAC. The National Border Patrol Council union never responded to questions from LNN about the matter.
Ramirez did some investigating for himself. Upon closer scrutiny, it turns out that PORAC has been very active politically with law enforcement unions dues. For example, it has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the state Democratic Party’s central committee. And California Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, was also a significant beneficiary of PORAC largesse.
They’ve also funded the who’s who of the open-borders, illegal immigration movement, Ramirez noted. And socialists as well. The homosexual lobby, as Ramirez put it, has also benefited from the officers dues money. Watch the video below for a partial list of some of the politicians raking in the cash from PORAC.
So as you can clearly see, [PORAC has] a record of spending high amounts for the most liberal of liberals, socialists, and open-borders, anti-border patrol, anti-enforcement, anti-apprehension. And yet, who is tied to PORAC? The National Border Patrol Council, Ramirez pointed out. So they fund the legislators who oppose everything that the agents are doing. You’ve got to wonder about this. Apparently the organizations conventions are held at expensive resorts, too.
Meanwhile, agent Diaz remains in solitary confinement after a prosecution stemming from his allegedly rough treatment of a drug smuggler at the Mexican border a prosecution that the Mexican consulate demanded. Diaz’s wife, a Border Patrol manager herself, is not convinced the union did everything it could and should have done to help her husband. Nor is Ramirez, a longtime advocate for law enforcement officers and border patrol agents in particular.
This … is a case that has national implications on every law enforcement officer across this country, Ramirez explained, highlighting the question of whether or not the union waged a public campaign or even released statements on behalf of agent Diaz. This establishes precedent that can be used to prosecute further agents, he added.
Meanwhile, the union and PORAC are funding socialists and open-border advocates instead of spending an appropriate amount of resources to defend agent Diaz. That’s nonsense, Ramirez complained, noting that the union collected dues from agent Diaz for almost a decade and that the case establishes a dangerous precedent that affects every law enforcement officer in America. Get him the best attorneys, don’t sit on the funds its time to take that money and go out and get the best, Ramirez urged.
Ramirez also emphasized support for all officers. “We [at Liberty News Network and The New American] support our Border Patrol Agents, Customs Officers, and ICE agents as they put their lives on the line every day to interdict narcotic smuggling and human trafficking, he added in an e-mail to The New American. We also know as well as anyone that for doing their jobs as they were trained, they face the continuing danger of political prosecution for doing just that, their sworn duty.”
Andy Ramirez is the founder and president of the Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council, as well as founder and president of Friends of the Border Patrol. Liberty News Network is an affiliated news group of The John Birch Society.
