AFL-CIO Union Federation Pressured To Drop Border Patrol After Trump Endorsement

The border patrol recently made headlines for endorsing Donald Trump – the first time the group has ever endorsed a presidential candidate in the primaries. Now, the AFL-CIO, a federation of unions, is under pressure to drop the border patrol from their organization.

According to NBC News, it took only a few hours after the National Border Patrol Council, the labor union representing agents and support staff in the border patrol, endorsed Trump for the anti-deportation group #Not1More to protest. #Not1More is a group dedicated to overcoming “unjust immigration laws” according to their website.

They sent a letter to the AFL-CIO and created a petition, which had some strong words for the GOP front-runner.

“By endorsing Trump, Border Patrol endorses a racist, xenophobic and misogynist campaign that advocates mass deportation, torture, state-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims, subordination of women, and more broadly undermines the values and goals of the labor movement.”

The Atlantic reports that the border patrol in Tuscon said Trump was the “only candidate that has publicly expressed his support of our mission and our agents.” They also reaffirmed the candidates statement that immigration wouldn’t have been such an important subject in the primaries if he did not make bold statements about the border with Mexico.

Donald Trump has proposed building a wall across the entire 2,000-mile border with Mexico, and forcing Mexico to pay for it. He has also called for the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants from the U.S. That would be over four times the current presidential record for deportations. According to Fusion, President Obama is the record holder, deporting 2.5 million people.

Trump’s policies have won him plenty of critics, but the National Border Patrol Council apparently liked what they heard. The labor union released a statement explaining their unprecedented decision.

“The NBPC has had a longstanding practice of not endorsing presidential candidates in the primaries. We will not, however, shy away from voicing our opinions as it pertains to border security and the men and women of the United States Border Patrol. As an organization we expect our elected officials to aggressively pursue the interests of the country.”

They have also said they appreciate Trump’s “bold and necessary” statements and the fact that he is “angry for America.”

#Not1More says there was already contention about the border patrol being in the AFL-CIO, but now it has gone too far.

AFL-CIO President Trumka has also shown a pro-immigration reform stance and has argued that the dysfunction and exploitation of undocumented immigrants has brought down the wages of all workers.

Still, Trump has expressed some views favorable to union members in general. He’s ripped the TPP trade agreement, vowed to punish companies that send jobs abroad, and has enjoyed a “cordial relationship” with labor on his real estate projects according to the New York Times.

Even President Mary Kay Henry of the Service Employees International Union, which has endorsed Clinton, fears that Trump is a charismatic force among her union’s members.

“There is deep economic anxiety among our members and the people we’re trying to organize that I believe Donald Trump’s message is tapping into.”

The Service Employees International Union took itself out of the ALF-CIO umbrella in 2005. Other unions have shared similar sentiments to #Not1More over Trump.

The United Farm Workers union calls Trump a “bigot” on their website and claims he will tear apart Latino families if made President. That group also disaffiliated itself from the AFL-CIO.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Donald Trump said the U.S. economy was in a terrible state in an interview with Bob Woodward, distancing himself from Wall Street.

The #Not1More letter to the AFL-CIO and petition for them to kick out the border patrol union can be found here.

[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]