Trump’s win brings new hope to Border Patrol and ICE, likely averting officer exodus
Donald Trump’s presidential victory last week has instilled a much-needed sense of hope among border and immigration agents.
Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers told Fox News Digital that morale within the agencies has completely turned around since Trump won. They also applauded the president-elect’s decision to name Tom Homan as the incoming “border czar,” noting that he is widely respected among agents.
‘There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. …They’re going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again.’
A Massachusetts ICE officer told the news outlet, “It’s a total 180. Troops are finally feeling like the sun is coming out after a very long storm.”
“People are fired up to have support,” the ICE officer continued. “It’s amazing because we all became so numb. I don’t think we realized how bad until we finally have hope again. Everyone is so happy about Homan’s return.”
A New York ICE officer stated that morale within the law enforcement agency is “super high, especially with the Homan news, too.”
An Arizona Border Patrol agent told Fox News Digital that they are now “ecstatic to go to work,” adding that morale within the CBP is “even higher than the first time he [Trump] won.”
A senior ICE official told the news outlet, “I feel that people know now they will get to do the work they signed up to do and that they want to do.”
“They know they can get the bad guys now. Public safety threats, national security threats, gang members, here we come,” the official said.
National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez also confirmed the uptick in agents’ enthusiasm, stating that “morale is through the roof.”
“We’ve received hundreds of calls, texts, emails just saying how happy the agents are,” Perez stated.
Just last month, several CBP agents warned about a potential staffing crisis in the event that Vice President Kamala Harris won the November presidential election, Blaze News previously reported. They told the New York Post that many officers would likely opt to retire, with one agent calling the last four years under the Biden-Harris administration’s leadership “hell.”
One Border Patrol officer told the Post, “Lots of guys who can retire will go. If Trump wins, they’ll stay.”
Perez explained that many of the agents who had planned to retire have decided to remain since Trump’s win.
He said, “There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. And now those same agents are saying they’re going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again, because they know exactly how it was during this first administration, and they know this one’s going to be even better.”
A Texas border agent repeated similar remarks to Fox News Digital, stating, “People who were going to retire are not and everyone is happy.”
However, a California Border Patrol officer told the news outlet that agents are “hopeful but the give-ups are still trickling in.”
“Nothing will change until Tom Homan takes the leash off us,” the officer remarked.
Trump has vowed to “strengthen ICE” by “increas[ing] penalties for illegal entry and overstaying Visas, and reinstat[ing] ‘Remain in Mexico’ and other Policies that helped reduce Illegal Immigration by historic lows in President Trump’s first term.”
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