The local Texas union representing border patrol agents, under pressure from the AFL-CIO, has backed out of the U.S.-Mexico border tour that had been planned with Donald Trump on Thursday.
"After careful consideration of all of the factors involved in this event ... it has been decided by Local 2455 to pull out of all events involving Donald Trump," the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) said in a statement,
CNN is reporting.
"Make no mistake, our border with Mexico is not secure and there's no doubt that we need to have an honest discussion about that with the American people," the union added.
Trump issued a rapid-fire response, claiming the union had been silenced by superiors in Washington, D.C., "who do not want people to know bad it is on the border."
The visit would continue "despite the great danger" he said in a statement, alleging that union members "are being silenced, and are very unhappy about it."
The NBPC is controlled by the national AFL-CIO. Hector Garza, who is president of Local 2455, had invited Trump to tour the border near Laredo, Texas, for a firsthand experience of the problems agents face there.
"We look forward to giving Mr. Trump a boots on the ground perspective on the Laredo Sector of the Texas-Mexico Border," Garza told Breitbart Texas earlier this week.
But Breitbart Texas now is reporting the national union insisted that the local union back out of its agreement, according to Garza.
"The union has largely appealed to the public for more attention to the dangers posed by illegal immigrants who cross the border, so it’s strange that the AFL-CIO side would ... try to hurt a presidential candidate for saying the same things the union always says," a border agent, whose name was not disclosed, told Breitbart.
"This kind of crap is why I left the union.The agents who actually work on the border invited him. This seems contrived," the agent said.
Trump's spokeswoman said that the billionaire real estate mogul will still visit the border with the help of other agents. Following the tour, Trump will speak to a group of local law enforcement officials.
Trump is expected to arrive in Laredo early Thursday afternoon for an unofficial tour of a border section considered especially problematic.
The issue of illegal immigration and border security came to the forefront of the debate when Trump announced his candidacy in June, and cited Mexican immigrants as a source of crime in the United States.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," Trump said in his announcement. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
The comments led Mexico to drop out of the Miss Universe pageant and companies such as Macy's, Univision, and NBC to cut business ties with Trump.
The real estate mogul came under fire this week for questioning the heroism of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
While Trump has been leading in several national polls, his numbers are starting to drop. In the most recent survey released by Public Policy Polling, Trump is still ahead, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is only 2 percentage points behind him.
Material from AFP was used in this report.
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