Border Agents: ‘We’re Not Going to Apologize for What We Believe In’ -
By FERNANDA SANTOSMARCH 28, 2017
TUCSON — Around the time that Donald J. Trump unofficially clinched the Republican nomination for president last May, he carved 10 minutes out of his schedule for an interview on “The Green Line,” an obscure podcast by the union of Border Patrol agents
that was making its debut on a local talk-radio station.
“One thing that President Trump did that no politicians had done previous is he kept the conversation on the border.”
Mr. Del Cueto, who is also president of Local 2544, which represents 3,000 agents in the Tucson Sector,
the Border Patrol’s largest regional division, replied, “He’s definitely kept his foot on the pedal.”
The union’s foray into podcasting began in July 2012, when it launched “State of the Union,” which focused on work matters.
In 148 episodes (and counting), Mr. Moran and a recurring cast of agents-turned-union officials have criticized journalists, protesters, civil rights groups, Mr. Obama, the Mexican government, progressives, the “Hollywood elite”
and anyone else they say has stood in the way of agents trying to do their job as they believe they should — including the leadership of the Border Patrol.
In the early days of “The Green Line,” Mr. Moran said he recorded episodes from hotel rooms, his patio
and “every Starbucks within five miles of my house.” These days, he records and edits them from the Breitbart News studios in San Diego, though the production can still have an amateur feel.
“We’re not going to apologize for what we believe in,” said Shawn Moran, the podcast’s original host
and a vice president for the union, known as the National Border Patrol Council.
