Donald Trump Border Visit: Candidate Snubbed By Border Patrol, Attacked By Rick Perry, Protested At Airport

Donald Trump shrugs of border patrol — Donald Trump's plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border as part of his presidential campaign where disrupted on Wednesday when a local union of Border Patrol agents canceled a tour. Latino activists have promised to protest Trump at the airport, and rival candidate Rick Perry criticized him on border policy and for racially insensitive comments. REUTERS/Jim Young

Presidential candidate Donald Trump heads to the U.S-Mexico border today. Border visits are a trope in U.S. politics: ponder at a fence, shake some hands with green uniforms and talk tough on enforcement. Unfortunately for Trump there won't be any of those hands to shake. Trump was scheduled to receive a tour of the U.S-Mexico border today by a local law enforcement union, but National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 issued a statement this morning saying that they have cancelled the engagement. It's unclear exactly why.

“After careful consideration of all the factors involved in this event and communicating with members of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) at the National level, it has been decided by Local 2455 to pull out of all events involving Donald Trump. [...] As Local 2455, our intentions to meet with Mr. Trump was to provide a ‘Boots on the Ground’ perspective to not only Mr. Trump, but to the media that would be in attendance at this event,” wrote Local 2455 President Hector Garza.

The statement also noted that it had never endorsed Donald Trump as a candidate and would not endorse any candidates in the future. It did not mention Trump's controversial comments about Mexican immigrants or his past criticism of border enforcement. A Trump for America statement quoted on Fox Business blamed national-level political pressure for the group’s decision to cancel the event.

A union of border patrol agents says they will not accompany @realDonaldTrump on his trip. http://t.co/IaOcjhH9Yk pic.twitter.com/ytZGsT6y8r
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) July 23, 2015

Rival presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry also released a statement ahead of Trump’s visit, criticizing him for previous attack on his gubernatorial record. In the past, Trump has attacked Perry for not doing more to secure the border between Texas and Mexico.

“While he is there, I hope [Trump] will explain to the people of Laredo why he thinks they should be on the hook to secure our country’s border with Mexico, rather than the federal government. I hope he will explain to the Hispanic Americans he meets why he thinks they are rapists and murderers.”

Trump confirmed on twitter that he will fly to Laredo at 1pm on Wednesday, where he will meet with a local mayor, according to WFAA 8 anchor Jason Whitely. No Border Patrol agents will be there to greet him, but Latino activists are staging an anti-Trump rally at the Laredo airport, The Guardian reports.

“He’s not wanted, his ideas are not wanted here,” League of United Latin American Citizens representative Isidro Garza Jr. told The Guardian.