Government union officer: We back border security but ‘don’t believe in not paying people to work’

An officer of the union representing thousands of federal government employees said border patrol and ICE officers believe in border security, but expect to be paid to work.

The comment came after David Borer, who serves as the General Counsel of the American Federal of Government Employees (AFGE), was asked about whether Democrats should give in to President Trump’s demand for funding for a border wall.

“Democrats are saying they can’t give in because they don’t want to reward with what’s essentially hostage-taking of the federal workforce. Do you agree with that view?” Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball asked Borer.

“Absolutely,” Borer said. “We’re all for border security, we represent tens of thousands of border patrol agents and ICE officers and so forth, we believe in border security but we don’t believe in not paying people to work,” he continued.

AFGE represents over 600,000 federal and D.C. government employees. This includes a range of employees across various government agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration, Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Democrats and President Trump have remained stuck in a stalemate after Democrats have refused to give Trump his $5.7 billion to fund the border wall along the U.S. southern border.

Borer emphasized that it’s not right to expect government workers to work for free, especially those who are trying to support their families.

“It’s immoral to ask people to come to work every day and not be paid,” he said.

He also warned that many, including TSA agents, won’t be able to hold on for much longer, predicting the standoff between President Trump and Democrats could lead to mass layoffs.

“They’d like to stay, they’re dedicated to their jobs, but if it goes even a little bit longer, I think we’re going to see mass resignations because people need to feed their families,” he told Hill.TV.

—Tess Bonn