With the so-called humanitarian crisis at our southern border ever deteriorating, Glenn found himself in the company of a strange bedfellow on Tuesday. TheBlaze’s senior Washington correspondent Sara Carter has been reporting from the border town of McAllen, Texas for several days now, and her latest article details the violation of rights border patrol agents are facing. Shawn Moran, spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council – the union that represents Border Patrol agents – has spoken out against the violations, and Glenn found himself in agreement with Moran on radio this morning.
“We know that our borders are completely out of control… Reports came out this weekend from the border patrol union that MS-13 gang members… are pushing our border agents to the breaking point,” Glenn explained. “And our border patrol agents are under attack not only from MS-13 and the drug cartels but under attack from our government. This is a point where we can show a clear distinction, have a real demonstration that the truth makes strange bedfellows.”
If you are a longtime listener, you know Glenn typically does not see eye-to-eye with union brass from any industry, but he appreciates the warnings the border patrol union has been heeding for a number of years.
“If I were anti-union, I would dismiss this warning from the border patrol union. I haven't dismissed this warning for years,” Glenn said. “They have been crying out, ‘Will someone please listen to us.’ Because my agenda is truth, and I believe yours is too, we have to check the veracity of the truth involved here. And the truth is: After we checked it, the border patrol unions need to be heard.”
What is currently happening at our border and the danger these men and women face actually gets back to the root of why unions were formed in the first place – to protect the rights and safety of the worker. As Carter’s report chronicles, our border agents are in serious danger:
A U.S. Border Patrol manager in the Tucson, Arizona, sector has forbidden agents from bringing cellphones or any electronic devices to work after photographs were leaked several weeks ago showing some of the hundreds of children being housed at the overcrowded Nogales processing center. But according to a union representative, the manager’s actions violate established, collectively-bargained guidelines.
Only a month ago, the agents were allowed to carry their personal cellphones at work to make calls if radio communications went down.
Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona, have also been banned from speaking to the media and have been advised by their manager to refer reporters to the department’s official representatives, an agent told TheBlaze on the condition of anonymity. Like in Arizona, Texas Border Patrol agents have also been told not to speak to the media after similar photos of overcrowded conditions at their facilities were made public. Agents across the country have been threatened with disciplinary action, termination and in one case, criminal charges for getting caught speaking to reporters.
In Nogales, it was the patrol agent in charge, Leslie Lawson, who issued the ban on electronic devices. But Shawn Moran, spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council — the union that represents Border Patrol agents — said a patrol agent in charge does not have the authority to circumvent the union-bargaining process on cellphone usage, and that the only person who can change that policy is a sector chief, and the collective bargaining process still applies.
Read the full report HERE.
“Your fellow union brothers and sisters are in trouble – serious, life-threatening, job-threatening, career-changing trouble,” Glenn said. “This isn't about their wage increases or their vacations. They have their life on the line. And their employer, in their arrogance, has no fear of anybody.”
Glenn proceeded to lambast other union leaders for not supporting the plight of the border patrol agents – especially given the threat illegal immigrants pose to union jobs.
“It's puzzling to me… because even without the life-threatening crisis, fellow union members, where are you,” Glenn asked. “Forget about the life saving. The unions used to be against illegals coming in because they would take jobs from the American workers. Now, here's your border patrol, who has a union, saying… ‘We can't do anything. We can't protect ourselves.’ Nobody's listening to that.”
