Despite Donald Trump's jibes, which have created a huge rift in the GOP in past few days, two federal unions – the National Border Patrol Council and the National ICE Council – continue to stand by the Republican presidential nominee, the Washington Post reports.
Backing Trump puts the two unions in an awkward situation as their parent organization, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and its parent, the AFL-CIO, strongly support the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Both organizations when interviewed by the Post showed no hesitation in revealing they were supporting Trump and would not back out.
Hoping for civil service law changes, both the groups have missed out on the larger picture. They have not been paying heed to indications a Trump-Mike Pence administration will push proposals that don't favor unions.
Their support for Trump comes in the wake of disappointment over Obama administration's policy on border security. Trump's immigration policy aims – "extreme vetting," getting Mexico to pay for a wall on the border and a one-time ban Muslims – seem to cater to the groups.
In an endorsement, the National Border Patrol Council said, "We don’t need a person who has the perfect Washington-approved tone."
Meanwhile, AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. noted though his labor organization is backing Clinton, the AFGE is a democracy and its members can support whomever they want.
Trump is also been receiving advice from two top Republicans – Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie.
Former speaker Gingrich from Georgia asked Trump to battle with it out with federal labor organizations. Gingrich suggested "getting permission to fire corrupt, incompetent, and dishonest workers – that's the absolute showdown," according to a New Yorker report.
The other aide, Republican New Jersey Gov. Christie, also asked the candidate to propose changing federal civil service procedures, to make it "a lot easier to fire those people," the Post reported.
Meanwhile, Chris Crane, president of the National ICE Council, believes the police unions have little to do with federal employees.
"We're law enforcement officers, so we put public safety first before anything and everything," Crane said.
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