The national Border Patrol union says the decision of its parent union to endorse Democrat Hillary Clinton for president could make some Border Patrol agents unhappy.
The union is calling for tougher, more focused talk on border security in the 2016 presidential race.
The National Border Patrol Council said in a statement the endorsement by its parent group, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) "will displease a lot of Border Patrol agents."
The Border Patrol union says there’s no bad blood between the two groups. But Shawn Moran, Vice President and spokesperson for the Border Patrol union, believes AFGE’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton reveals ideological differences between his union’s ranks and other federal employees.
"[AFGE's] points of view and their thinking do not always line up with those of Border Patrol agents," he said.
"AFGE is dominated by several councils that are much larger, and much more liberal than our own council, so it's very often that our viewpoints and what we would like to see the federation do are in opposition."
Despite AFGE’s move, the Border Patrol union says it does not and will not endorse a presidential candidate, but Moran says there are key issues they’d like discussed more in the 2016 race.
Moran said the union wants specifics on how to strengthen border security and "fix" the country’s immigration system. The union believes leaders in Washington, D.C. are often out of touch with the reality of agents on the ground.
The union opposes the Obama Administration’s moves to give temporary deportation relief to certain people living in the country illegally, describing the President’s executive actions on that front as "phantom amnesty programs."
Clinton backs the president’s efforts on that issue and says as president she’d fight for a path to full citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.
