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Trump: 'Orders from Washington' Shut Down My Border Tour
Thursday, July 23, 2015 02:37 PM
By: Newsmax Wires
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrived in Texas on Thursday to warm greetings from local dignitaries, protests from immigration activists and a conflict with a union that pressured border agents to back out of a planned tour — a last-minute change he blamed on "orders from Washington."
The billionaire developer said leaders of the National Border Patrol Council in Washington put pressure on its local representatives in Laredo to scrap their participation in the "boots on the ground" border trip.
“They invited me and then at the last moment -- I mean, we were virtually in the air and [they] said we can't get involved. I heard they got those orders from Washington.”
"If I win, believe me, we'll get things straightened out," Trump said.
Trump caused an uproar with his blunt comments about immigration and Mexico last month. He has promised to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it.
Local members of the Border Patrol union had been ready to accompany Trump, who has outraged Mexicans with incendiary comments about immigrants, but announced early on Thursday that they had abandoned the plan after discussions with union leaders.
"They were totally silenced directly from superiors in Washington who do not want people to know how bad it is on the border --- every bit as bad as Mr. Trump has been saying," the candidate said in a statement.
Trump told reporters that he believed that patrol agents faced "a great danger" working the border.
"I love the country," he said. "There's nothing more important than what I'm doing. I'm the one that brought up the problem of illegal immigration.
"We have big crowds all screaming in favor of Trump," he added. "They want the problem fixed. We will have legal immigration. We want to get the legal immigration in. We want legal immigration."
Trump slammed fellow candidate Rick Perry's record of securing the border when he was Texas governor, saying that his successor, Greg Abbott, who took over in January, is doing a better job.
He also blasted Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, repeating his claim that "she's the worst secretary of state in the history of our country."
Trump was not well received by local immigration activists who protested at the airport as the candidate arrived.
"He’s not wanted, his ideas are not wanted here,” said Isidro Garza Jr, a representative with League of United Latin American Citizens, according to The Guardian.
Trump is at or near the top of many opinion polls of the 16 Republican candidates for the November, 2016 presidential election, worrying the party establishment, which fears he could turn off moderate voters.
Trump threatened in an interview published on Thursday to run as a political independent if he does not get "fair" treatment from the Republican Party.
He said any third-party bid would depend on the Republican National Committee's actions during the party's primary selection process, according to The Hill.
"I'll have to see how I'm being treated by the Republicans," Trump was quoted as saying. "Absolutely, if they're not fair, that would be a factor."
The comments followed rebukes by the party establishment over his criticism of Mexican immigrants and U.S. Senator John McCain's war record and for personal attacks against fellow Republican White House contenders.
An independent run could split Republican voters and give leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton an edge in the 2016 election.
