No, Donald Trump was not endorsed by ICE
Donald Trump announced during Monday night's debate that he "was just endorsed by ICE," but it's actually a non-government agency representing border agents that's supporting him.
While discussing cybersecurity, Trump declared, "I was just endorsed by ICE. They've never endorsed anybody before on immigration. I was just endorsed by ICE. I was just recently endorsed — 16,500 Border Patrol agents." As a government agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would never endorse a candidate, but the Los Angeles Times believes they've deciphered what Trump meant: On Monday morning, the Trump campaign announced the Republican nominee received the endorsement of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, a union that represents 5,000 immigration officers. They also said the union has never before endorsed a candidate for president, and just 5 percent of members wanted to back Hillary Clinton.
As for the 16,500 Border Patrol agents, that was likely a reference to the endorsement Trump received back in March from the National Border Patrol Council, which represents 16,500 people.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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