Today, AFGE announced its endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. It is a decision that will please many of its members, but will displease a lot of Border Patrol agents.
AFGE’s selective process is spelled out in detail on their website. AFGE reached out to all announced presidential candidates – Republican and Democratic – with a questionnaire to gauge their positions on federal employees. Two candidates responded and agreed to an interview.
The National Border Patrol Council, as part of AFGE, made its concerns and preferences known in terms of presidential candidates. We emphasized the issues that are important to our members and voiced our anxieties on border security and immigration.
After reviewing every candidate’s record on federal employee pay and benefits, furloughs, shutdowns, and government services, the AFGE National Executive Council, without an endorsement from the NBPC, voted and Secretary Clinton was the endorsee.
We recognize that our agenda is not always AFGE’s agenda and so do our supporters on Capitol Hill. This is why, our strategy to work both sides of the aisle to advance legislation has benefited agents and their families as well as border security. In addition, we have also established a PAC that allows us to support individual candidates that support our agenda of strong enforcement and an end to the phantom amnesty programs like DACA, DAPA and “catch and release” that only encourage illegal immigration.
You have a choice to make. You can be mad at AFGE’s endorsement and disengage, or you help us advance our agenda by joining our PAC. The American public has been demanding border security for far too long. With your input, we will support candidates that recognize that the first line of defense against our borders being infiltrated by transnational criminal cartels, human smugglers, and possible terrorists is you, our Border Patrol Agents.
The work we do as Border Patrol Agents has an impact on every community across this country. We intend to stay focused on that work and not politics. As the exclusive representative of United States Border Patrol Agents, the National Border Patrol Council has not and will not endorse a candidate for President of the United States.
