Border Patrol Agents Cancel Meeting With Donald Trump
LAREDO, Texas, July 23 (UPI) — As presidential candidate Donald Trump heads for the Texas-Mexico border Thursday, a patrol union says it will not be escorting him there.
A statement from Hector Garza, the president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455, said that after careful consideration of the “factors involved” in the event and after conferring with members of the National Border Patrol Council (NPBC) at the national level, Local 2455 has decided to remove itself from any events involving Donald Trump.
Garza said that Local 2455’s mission is to “support and protect” its officers and to “make sure that our members concerns (sic) are heard by the American people.” The group had scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump and accompanying media in order to deliver a hands-on perspective on the group’s mission but has now canceled the meeting, adding that Local 2455 “does not endorse candidates for any political office.”
In response, Trump tweeted that he will still travel to Laredo for an “exciting and informative” trip. In a separate statement he said that NBPC had invited him, claiming he was told that superiors in Washington had totally silenced the group and that there are things those superiors do not want Americans to see or discuss.
Trump will land in Laredo at 1 p.m.
Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch opponent of Trump, said he hopes Trump will apologize for his comments made about Latinos while in the city of Laredo, which is 96 percent Hispanic.
