President Donald Trump “will prevail” in “securing the border” if he “declares a state of emergency,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Breitbart News on Wednesday.
He was offering his remarks on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
Mansour asked Judd what Trump will be doing during his Thursday-scheduled visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Judd explained, “[Donald Trump] is going to have a round table with the agents, and then he’s going to go talk with some agents in what we call a muster. If you ever watch those police shows where, before a shift, all the police are in a room and they get a briefing of what’s going on; that’s what we call a muster. The president’s going to go talk with agents pre-shift — getting ready to go out in the field — and he’s going to address them, and then from there he’s going to go out to the border and he’s goign to look and see what’s going on out there.”
LISTEN:
Judd continued, “This is something that we greatly appreciate because he’s one of the only presidents that has actually ever gone out and toured the actual border while he’s in office, and it’s just great that he’s here. He wants to see and get a bird’s eye view of exactly what’s going on. This is actually his second visit to the border while in office. You can see that he’s really concerned about what’s going on and he’s getting good advice. Thank goodness.”
Mansour invited Judd’s comments on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) description of Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) as “an agency that has systematically violated human rights.”
Judd replied, “She has absolutely no evidence, whatsoever, of any wrongdoing. There was no wrongdoing. It’s stuff like this that really ticks me off, and the reason it makes me so mad is because they’re glamorizing lawbreakers and they’re vilifying the good guys. They’re vilifying our law enforcement agents. That’s fundamentally wrong and literally leads to anarchy. Does she not want us to have police in the United States? It gets my blood boiling. She’s dead wrong in what she said.”
Judd recalled how border agents, during the Obama administration, spent their own money to provide diapers, formula, toys, and other basic necessities to children in their custody.
Judd stated, “I go back to the Obama era in 2014 when he had that unaccompanied minor crisis. It was our agents that were bringing in food, toys, diapers. It was our agents doing that with their own money. The government wasn’t even giving us the resources to take care of those children, and so our agents on their own were doing it. That’s what President Trump is trying to do. He’s trying to give us those resources so that he can take care of them, the same resources the Obama administration refused to give us.”
Mansour asked, “Democrats are using you — federal employees like you — as their bargaining chip and talking point. They’re saying, ‘These poor federal employees, they need their paychecks,’ and President Trump is responding, ‘They’re on my side in this. They understand the need for this.’ Explain to us how you feel about this government shut down because you guys have to work and you’re not getting your paychecks now because of this partial shut down. How long do you think the president should go in this fight?”
Judd answered, “Border patrol agents are patriots. They want to secure the borders so that the United States can be safe. They’re willing to sacrifice a great deal. We go by a seniority system by who gets certain days and holidays off. Even though I was the most senior person at my station, I worked on Christmas Day. I wasn’t there when my children woke up to open up their presents. I’m willing to sacrifice that. My agents are willing to sacrifice that in order to get get the border secure and secure the American public. If we have to sacrifice in the short run for a long-term solution, we’re willing to do it.”
Judd continued, “[Border Patrol agents] are saying, ‘It is Congress that is holding up the funding. It is not the president.’ All the president is trying to do is actually do what the American public has demanded which is secure the border, and our agents want to do that. They want to secure the border for the American public.”
Judd speculated, “I ultimately think that he’s going to declare a state of emergency. He would be right in doing so. I think that he will secure his funding through the state of emergency. I do not think that the Democrats are going to give in at all. I don’t think it’s going to happen. That’s one of the things about this president. What he does is he thinks outside the box. He doesn’t just stick with one option. He looks at option A, option B, option C, and that’s exactly what he’s doing in this case. He’s trying to work with Congress first. If he can’t work with Congress, then he can declare the state of emergency, get the funding that he needs, and get the pieces of the puzzle together so that we can actually make it one picture and actually secure the border.”
Judd concluded, “There will be legal challenges, and they will most likely challenge him in the Ninth Circuit, because they know that the Ninth Circuit is a very friendly circuit to the liberal mindset. The Ninth Circuit will most likely rule against the president, and it will go to the Supreme Court, and we know that the Supreme Court is actually fair. We’re not looking at judicial activism wit the Supreme Court. They look at the Constitution, and he’ll win at the Supreme Court. We’re looking at a year down the road, but ultimately he will prevail in getting what he needs in securing the border if he does in fact declare the state of emergency.”
Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot channel 125 weeknights from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern or 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.