For Immediate Release – April 6, 2018
NBPC Statement on President Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to the Border
Tucson, AZ – The NBPC applauds President Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to support the U.S. Border Patrol in its mission to secure our border and protect our country. Border Patrol Agents enforce our Nation’s immigration laws and are tasked with securing thousands of miles of border. Congress has set a mandatory floor of 21,370 Border Patrol Agents, but the U.S. Border Patrol only has approximately 19,302 agents.
Many Border Patrol Agents perform duties such as monitoring cameras, monitoring sensor activations, conducting surveillance on “sky boxes” or other observation posts, operating scope vehicles, etc. These are surveillance activities and by deploying the National Guard to take over these and other activities, it will free up law enforcement resources to patrol the border and make arrests. This action will increase the certainty of detection and apprehension.
Smuggling of both humans and illicit contraband such as opioids is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It is predicated on getting products across the border without detection and apprehension or seizure. With the National Guard assisting with our surveillance operations it will free up resources to patrol the border, thereby increasing the certainty of apprehension or seizure and put a dent in the bottom line (profits) of the criminal cartels that control all smuggling on our borders.
The NBPC is the exclusive representative of approximately 18,000 Border Patrol Agents and support personnel assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
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For more information, visit www.bpunion.org.
