The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council said its leaders will meet with President Donald Trump following a recent phone call with him. The union said President Trump called following the publication of a letter where the agents expressed a feeling of betrayal over changes at ICE.
National ICE Council President Chris Crane said President Trump called him on November 16 following the union’s publication of a letter expressing their feelings of betrayal by the Trump Administration. The union, which represents about 6,000 ICE officers nationwide, endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.
“The Trump administration isn’t working with us at all, and that’s the sad truth of it,” Crane stated on a website set up to express the union’s grievances with the administration. “We have written commitments that the White House would be working directly with us every day, but it’s not happening.”
Crane said he would not discuss the details of the content of his conversation with the President. “But as always the President treated me with the utmost respect, was polite and sincere, and asked a lot of questions to which I gave him straight answers,” he explained. “In the end, President Trump suggested a meeting which I of course accepted.”
“As I’ve told our officers and employees from the beginning, I trust this President and I know he’s going to keep his word and help us drain this swamp,” Crane continued. “He hasn’t forgotten us. He’s just busy running the country. The fact that he would take time out of his hectic schedule to call me should be proof of that. With all the bashing President Trump gets from the media, I hope American’s see the real Donald Trump that I know. A President who will take the time to personally call an ICE Officer to find out what’s going on. This is the President ICE Officers endorsed.”
Earlier this month, the National ICE Council president launched JICReport.com, a website for ICE whistleblowers to report issues within the agency they believe need to be made public. Crane said he believes the site will expose “corruption and gross mismanagement with ICE.” He hopes the site can eventually include whistleblowers from all agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“As employees, military veterans and law enforcement officers we are ashamed of the problems that plague these federal agencies; we are ashamed of ICE leadership,” Crane expressed. “We are ashamed of a Congress that just looks the other way and appears complicit. It’s time for transparency, it’s time to drain the swamp as the President committed to do.”
One of the union’s grievances alleges that ICE managers are requiring officers to remove their bulletproof vests during immigration raids. Another states that the acting ICE director is taking cars from field officers to give to ICE managers.
Crane said he was happy to receive the call from President Trump and is now working with the White House scheduler to set up the promised meeting.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Gab, and Facebook.