So, the National Border Patrol Council has endorsed Donald Trump for President! According to the New York Times today the Council said, “There is no greater physical or economic threat today than our open borders…” Really?
Yet today, the editorial continues: “…the border is more militarized than ever, and arrests there are at historic lows. Illegal immigration has been falling for years. More Mexicans are leaving the country than entering. President Obama, far from abandoning immigration enforcement, has deported more people — more than two million — more quickly than his predecessors.”
While, as a Democrat (and a Christian) I take no pride in that last statistic, it at least puts the lie to the claim that this President is turning a blind eye to illegal immigration and that “rapists and drug smugglers” are pouring across our southern border. That is simply not true. And, one would think, members of the Border Patrol, of all people, would know that.
Instead, they are choosing to support an ignorant demagogue with racist views and and a cynical strategy to win power for himself by playing on the fears and worst instincts of the American electorate. The council’s podcast “The Green Line” apparently majors in this kind of anti-Obama rhetoric. This sickens me, especially when sponsored by a union is made up entirely of members paid by my tax dollars.
I try to give the benefit of the doubt to law enforcement. I know they have a difficult job and I know that I (though not all people) are likely made safer by their work. But this kind of report only reinforces the belief by so many today that the police and other security forces are not our friends, but too often abuse their power at the expense of those who have the most to lose.
We hear often today that “unions do not really represent the views of their membership.” In the case of The National Border Control Council, I can only hope that is true.
That We All May Be One 
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