America's Largest Border Patrol Union Wants Trump

On Wednesday, the largest U.S. Border Patrol union in the country endorsed Donald Trump in its first-ever endorsement of any presidential candidate. As the union, which represents 16,500 agents, wrote in an official statement that was released on its website, the National Border Patrol Council said it was endorsing Trump because, "There is no greater physical or economic threat to Americans today than our open border. And there is no greater political threat than the control of Washington by special interests."

The statement also noted that the union's support comes because this country needs a leader "who doesn't fear the media, who doesn't embrace political correctness, who doesn't need the money, who is familiar with success, who won't bow to foreign dictators, who is pro-military and values law enforcement." The union continued by saying that Trump has made some "bold and necessary statements" about immigration, and asserted that when the media responded to his statements, he still didn't back down. It then claimed that these are necessary qualities for the next leader of this country, writing, "when the so-called experts said he was too brash and outspoken, and that he would fade away, they were proven wrong."

As early as June of last year, in the Republican front-runner's presidential campaign announcement speech, Trump made statements about Mexican immigrants as "killers," "rapists," and "criminals." He said that the Mexican government is sending "the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them." But the one thing the Mexican government definitely doesn't want to pay for is the wall that Trump keeps suggesting as a central issue of his campaign.

Trump has been adamant about building a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border — a wall that would extend from California to Texas, 2,000 miles across. The Bush Administration started building a wall in 2006 with the Secure Fence Act — 670 miles of fencing alone cost $2.4 billion. According to the Atlantic, a 2,000-mile wall as secure as Israel's would cost $6.4 billion. Other experts have suggested that it would cost double, or triple that amount, suggesting a wall could cost between $15 and $20 billion, depending on height. But it's OK because the United States wouldn't be footing the bill — Mexico would, according to Trump.

The National Border Patrol Council, however, has previously been unsupportive of a border wall, calling it a "temporary solution," and stating that "people who want to come to the United States to obtain employment will continue to go over, under, and around the walls and fences that are constructed." Even so, as a labor union, the NBPC made it clear in their endorsement of the political candidate that Trump "has created thousands of jobs," which seems to be an important cause for the group. Its mission states, "We safeguard conditions of employment, agreements, practices, employee rights, and the labor laws of the United States."

This endorsement will likely maintain the momentum of Trump support from voters who care especially about national security, immigration, and border security — which are by far Trump's key talking points.