Local Border Patrol union endorses Trump for president

On Tuesday, Local 1929 Border Patrol Union voted to support Donald Trump for president despite a push from federal, state, and local leaders to reject the endorsement.

The Border Patrol’s El Paso sector consists of about 1,700 agents.

Some of those agents, several city and county leaders, and immigrant advocates don’t agree with the National Border Patrol Council’s recent endorsement of Donald Trump for president.

But on Tuesday evening, the local Border Patrol union voted to endorse Trump for president.

Former City Rep Susie Byrd tells ABC-7 it was a Border Patrol agent who called out for help.

“He was seeing some of the comments on Facebook and social media from elected officials from members of the public and he wanted to express that he felt it wasn’t necessarily reflective of the agents that he knows and works with,” said Byrd.

Agents wished to remain anonymous but felt the community might back the idea of stepping away from the endorsement.

“He wanted to see if he could get support from local elected officials to say they would support an effort to reconsider the national,s endorsement of Donald Trump,” Byrd said.

And they did. A letter to the Local Union 1929 signed by 20 federal, state and local leaders stated:

“We do not believe this endorsement reflects the values of the Border Patrol agents that work in this region. One of the reasons that El Paso is the safest city in the United States is because of the trust developed between law enforcement and the El Paso community.”

Border Network for Human Rights policy director Robert Heyman said Trump’s stance on immigration would hurt immigration reform.

“More important than the candidate himself is the sort of rhetoric and bile that his campaign has brought up. I think it is a step backward,” Heyman said.

The National Border Patrol Council said it needs a person in the White House who doesn’t fear the media and gave this statement:

“Mr. Trump will take on special interests and embrace the ideas of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents rather than listening to the management yes-men who say whatever they are programmed to say. This is a refreshing change that we have not seen before — and may never see again.”