IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “When President Trump began railing against the current state of American immigration measures over the weekend, it was hard to tell where his thoughts ended and Brandon Judd’s began. Mr. Judd is the president of the National Border Patrol Council, a frequent guest on Fox News and a reliably vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration agenda. On Sunday [4-1-18], he was interviewed on ‘Fox & Friends,’ one of the president’s favorite programs. What followed was a public mind meld with the president, one that has frequently occurred since Mr. Trump took office…The president and his advisers are seeking to harden immigration laws. In a call with reporters on Monday [4-2-18], senior White House officials said that Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, had attended over 100 meetings on ways to push forward. But in the meantime, Mr. Judd, a 20-year veteran of the Border Patrol and leader of the estimated 18,000-member labor union, has caught Mr. Trump’s eye and earned the president’s praise for his television appearances.”
–Katie Rogers and Ron Nixon, “A Border Patrol Agent (and Frequent Fox News Guest) Has Trump’s Ear on Immigration,” The New York Times online, April 2, 2018