Donald Trump claimed at a meeting with National Border Patrol Council members at Trump Tower on Friday that the federal government is letting undocumented immigrants "pour into the country so they can go vote" in the presidential election.
Trump arrived at that conclusion after Art Del Cueto, the national vice president of the union, which represents Border Patrol agents, informed him agents have been advised to focus resources on processing a lengthy backlog of immigrants awaiting a court decision on their citizenship rather than on deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Del Cueto told Trump that the government's real motive for advising agents to prioritize citizenship processing over deportations was to "fast-track" people awaiting citizenship so they could vote in the election.
Trump challenged the media present at the meeting to report Del Cueto's remark, calling it a "big statement." "You hear a thing like that, and it's a disgrace," Trump said. "It will be a lot different if I get elected."
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