Trump says taxpayer-funded billboards offering legal services to illegal migrants are 'coming down' if he's elected

By 
 October 31, 2024

The Biden-Harris administration has essentially opened up the border to illegal migrants and is reportedly even spending taxpayer dollars on large billboards near the border to advertise taxpayer-funded legal services for those same lawbreakers.

Former President Donald Trump announced this week that if he wins the election, those billboards will be "coming down" shortly thereafter, according to Fox News.

As in prior election cycles, Trump has made strict enforcement of border security and immigration laws a key component of his campaign, much to the consternation of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who have adopted decidedly lax enforcement policies that critics say treat illegal migrants as good or better than law-abiding citizens.

Border Patrol Union exposes taxpayer-funded pro-migrant billboards

On Tuesday, the U.S. Border Patrol Union, which has endorsed former President Donald Trump, shared a photo on social media of a billboard that has increasingly been seen in various parts of Texas near the border with a dubious pro-migrant message.

"Your brother," or various other interchangeable relatives, "in immigration custody has rights," states the billboards paid for by U.S. taxpayers through the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) -- an ostensibly independent office established in 2019 by the Democrat-controlled Congress that addresses complaints from and provides aid to illegal migrants in federal custody.

"This DHS billboard (supported by Border Czar Harris) will only encourage and incentivize illegal immigration and the abuse of the asylum system to continue," the Border Patrol Union's post said. "This leads to record numbers of illegal aliens pouring across the border into our communities with little to no vetting. PRESIDENT TRUMP WILL STOP THE INVASION!"

Trump says billboards are "coming down" after he wins re-election

Almost immediately after the Border Patrol Union made that post on the X platform, former President Trump shared it on his X account and provided some commentary of his own.

"Kamala is now running billboards near the Border advertising FREE Legal Services for Illegal Alien Criminals," Trump wrote. "When I win, the billboards are coming down, and the Migrant Gangs are going home!"

BP and ICE agents "furious;" GOP lawmakers vow to address issue

Fox News reported that former President Trump and the Border Patrol Union are not alone in crying foul over the taxpayer-funded billboards that seemingly encourage more illegal immigration by informing migrants of the taxpayer-funded legal aid they can receive thanks to Democrats and the Biden-Harris administration.

Sources within the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency say agents are "furious" at the messages that run counter to their purported missions and appear to waste taxpayer money while funding is already tight because of the ongoing border crisis -- a situation they find to be personally "insulting" to them.

In a statement to Fox News, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said, "The news that DHS is using taxpayer money to launch billboards advocating 'rights' for individuals in 'immigration custody' should be alarming because it’s a preview of the legal arguments that radical progressive Democrats will use to argue against deportation of the millions dumped in America by Biden-Harris-Mayorkas."

Similarly, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) told the outlet, "Time and again, we’ve seen DHS put an open borders agenda ahead of its mission to safeguard American families."

"Whether it’s FEMA splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on migrant housing or OIDO running ads like this, our government is hemorrhaging money on the wrong priorities. It’s time for Congress to pull the plug on programs like these," the GOP lawmaker added.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson