National Border Patrol Council endorses Sen. Sinema's bipartisan border security bill

EJ Montini, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
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The National Border Patrol Council, which represents approximately 18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel, has endorsed the bipartisan border security package that Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and others have been working on for months.

House Speaker Mike Johnson already has declared the legislation “dead on arrival.”

Former President Donald Trump doesn’t want a bill passed, either, preferring to use the border crisis as a campaign prop rather than a crisis to be solved. He is joined in this cynical effort by people like Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Now, Trump and his sycophants will have to explain to border patrol professionals, who know the situation best and deal with it every day, why they are wrong about the bill put forth by Sinema, Democrats and Republicans.

Tell Border Patrol agents why they're wrong

U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., right, visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Somerton, Ariz., near the Cocopah Indian Reservation boundary on January 10, 2023.
U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., right, visits the U.S.-Mexico border in Somerton, Ariz., near the Cocopah Indian Reservation boundary on January 10, 2023.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in a statement, “The Border Act of 2024 will give U.S. Border Patrol agents authorities codified, in law, that we have not had in the past. This will allow us to remove single adults expeditiously and without a lengthy judicial review which historically has required the release of these individuals into the interior of the United States.

“This alone will drop illegal border crossings nationwide and will allow our agents to get back to detecting and apprehending those who want to cross our borders illegally and evade apprehension. While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the current status quo.

“This is why the National Border Patrol Council endorses this bill and hopes for its quick passage.”

Good luck to those like Trump and Johnson and others, who now must tell these law enforcement professionals they are wrong. Or that they’d prefer to do nothing until after the election.

Good luck telling voters that.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Border Patrol union backs Sen. Sinema's bipartisan immigration bill