Border Patrol Agents Union Endorses Donald Trump For President

Because of course.
Jim Bourg / Reuters

If any labor union was going to endorse Donald Trump for president, it would have to be the National Border Patrol Council.

The union represents 16,000 border patrol agents around the country and walks an extremely hard line on immigration issues. On Wednesday, it formally declared its backing for the billionaire Republican who has promised to compel Mexico to build the biggest, most beautiful wall the U.S. has ever seen.

The union said in a statement that it has not endorsed a presidential candidate in the past, but couldn't bear to sit "on the sidelines" this time, particularly on the matter of border control. The union praised Trump for his immigration stance, as well as his personal success, his disdain for political correctness and the fact that he is "angry for America."

"You can judge a man by his opponents: all the people responsible for the problems plaguing America today are opposing Mr. Trump," the union proclaimed. "It is those without political power -- the workers, the law enforcement officers, the everyday families and community members -- who are supporting Mr. Trump."

Trump has spouted anti-immigrant rhetoric since launching his campaign in June. The candidate has recommended banning Muslims from the U.S. and has called undocumented Mexican immigrants "criminals" and "rapists," among other highlights.

The union currently doesn't have plans to assist the Trump campaign beyond the endorsement, a spokesman told The Huffington Post.

In throwing its weight behind Trump, the National Border Patrol Council is an outlier among unions. Although plenty of union members may support his insurgent campaign, it seems the only other labor group that has formally backed the real estate mogul is the New England Police Benevolent Association, another law enforcement union. The border patrol council is also at odds with its own national union, the American Federation of Government Employees, which endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president last year.

An AFGE spokesman told HuffPost in an email that its local unions and councils have the leeway to make their own endorsements, even if they conflict with the national union's.

Organized labor on the whole doesn't share the border patrol union's stance on immigration. The AFL-CIO labor federation, which the border patrol agents are affiliated with, has been a leading proponent of comprehensive immigration reform in recent years. Its president, Richard Trumka, has called Trump an "anti-American bigot."

The border patrol union says on its website that it opposes the AFL-CIO's efforts. "Instead of focusing on increasing their per capita and membership through illegal aliens," the group says, "the AFL-CIO should firmly oppose illegal immigration and instead support American workers."

An adviser to the Trump campaign, Stephen Miller, said last week on SiriusXM's Breitbart News Daily that the border patrol union would have a "direct line" to a Trump White House. The Trump administration would "work closely, directly, and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council to develop a border policy for this nation," Miller added.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

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