Border Patrol Union Head Blasts Trump for Sending National Guard Troops to the Southern Border: 'A Colossal Waste of Resources'

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said Donald Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border is “a colossal waste of resources,” the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

Judd told the Times his union, which represents 15,000 agents, has seen “no benefit” from the move.

"When I found out the National Guard was going to be on the border I was extremely excited," Judd said, noting he’d  previously seen a benefit from the deployment of troops. 

"That has not happened at all,” Judd told the Times.

Complicating Trump’s decision is a shift in the National Guard’s role along the southern border. While National Guard and Border Patrol officials insist the deployment of troops is a “force multiplier,” they do not have law enforcement powers, meaning they must be paired with an agent who does.

“ Border Patrol and defense officials decided it was better to use them behind the scenes for surveillance and air support,” the Times reports.

"They were allowed to do a lot more than they are under the Trump administration,” " Judd said. explained. “They were allowed to be in lookout and observation posts. They were allowed to be out grading the roads and mending fences. They were allowed to be our eyes and ears, freeing us up.”

"They're not allowed to be in the public eye,” Judd continued. “They're not allowed to be in our lookout and observation posts, even in Texas.”

Judd said while the union “generally support the administration,” there “not going to be cheerleading when things are not going well.”

Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman defended the role of the National Guard, arguing while “deployment has not yet reached full capacity, it has clearly and unquestionably been a success with thousands of additional apprehensions and millions of dollars of drugs kept out of our country.”