Former President Donald Trump Domingo said that, if elected, he would ask Congress to pass legislation to increase the number of Border Patrol agents – months later a bipartisan measure that includes staffing increases failed.
The proposal would include hiring 10,000 new agents, a 10% raise for existing agents, as well as $10,000 for retention and signing, according to a senior Trump adviser.
“I will immediately ask Congress to approve a 10% increase,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona. “We have a tremendous shortage because they are not being treated properly.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Trump this year opposed a bipartisan measure that was the most aggressive border security bill in decades, which would have imposed measures aimed at reducing border crossings and tightening asylum rules. The legislation would fund the hiring of 1,500 additional Customs and Border Protection agents and 1,600 additional asylum officers, following months of negotiations between Senate Democrats and Republicans and the Biden administration.
Senate Republicans finally voted to block the bill after Trump pressured congressional Republicans to block any measure that wasn't “perfect.” This allows Trump to continue to make the border and immigration a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House.
Matt Corridoni, a spokesman for Harris' campaign, said in a statement Sunday that Trump “is not interested in solving a problem, but rather finding one.”
“That’s why he rejected the bipartisan bill that would have secured the border, even though it was approved by the Border Patrol,” Corridoni said. “There is only one candidate focused on solving the problems of the American people, confronting transnational gangs and keeping our communities safe – Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Asked why Trump is now proposing to hire more agents after downplaying the bipartisan action, campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt said in a statement Sunday that Trump “opposed the bill because it is an amnesty bill that would accelerate the illegal entry of thousands of illegal immigrants into the country.” every week.” “
Vice President Kamala Harris, who said she would sign the bipartisan bill if it reached her desk as president, wanted to introduce herself. Immigration is difficultTake a trip to the border in late September and support tighter restrictions on asylum seekers.
Trump announced his plans to beef up border security shortly after members of the National Border Patrol Council, the union for U.S. Border Patrol agents and employees, joined him on stage to express their support for the Republican candidate.
“On behalf of the 16,000 men and women represented by the National Border Patrol Council, we support and strongly support Donald J. Trump for President of the United States,” said Paul Perez, president of the union, at the rally.
The same union, under a different president, passed bipartisan bill that Trump helped block.
The former president has intensified his anti-immigration rhetoric at recent rallies. Last week he called for the death penalty for any immigrant who kills US citizens and announced a plan he called “Operation Aurora”. the plan that invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport gang members.
in an NBC News Poll released Sunday showed Harris and Trump deadlocked in the 2024 race, with respondents ranking immigration and border security as the second-ranking issues they considered so important they would vote for or against any one of the candidates based on that alone.
