DHS calls to #BoycottGreyhound after company bans border agents from conducting immigration checks on buses
Greyhound won't allow immigration checks without a warrant; National Border Patrol Council president Brandon Judd weighs in.
Greyhound's new policy which prohibits U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents from boarding its buses to conduct immigration checks without warrants would directly endanger the lives of American citizens, Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said on Sunday.
Discussing the company's announcement Friday, Judd told "Fox & Friends Weekend" he was "fired up" learning that agents would be unable to conduct the standard immigration checks without an issued warrant.
"I look at the reason that Greyhound gave... 'the safety of its employees and its passengers.' I question -- what about the safety of the American public at large?" Judd asked.
Greyhound's announcement came as bus companies have continued to face pressure from civil rights advocates over the practice. Border agents regularly have climbed onto buses within 100 miles of the border to ask passengers about their immigration statuses. Some have been captured on video, prompting outrage from immigration advocacy groups.
Judd stressed the importance of being granted access to passengers, saying the policy until this point allowed officers to find violent offenders and arrest those involved in human trafficking.
"I've personally gone onto a Greyhound bus and arrested an individual that was convicted for sexually molesting a young child. What about that young child... those people that are prayed upon?" he asked. "How about sex trafficking? We know that sex traffickers will exploit every opportunity that they're given and if federal agents can't go on the bus and start searching people..." Judd trailed off.
Greyhound executives said the company would train drivers and bus station employees about the new policy and make stickers to be placed on buses saying it would not consent to searches.
A worker, right, speaking with a Customs and Border Protection agent seeking to board a Greyhound bus headed for Portland, Ore., earlier this month in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios, File)
"The law allows us to go on buses and have consensual conversations with individuals," Judd said. "These individuals have never been forced, but if they're going to voluntarily speak with us, that’s a consensual encounter, and why Greyhound has stopped this process is beyond me."
Co-host Pete Hegseth said the policy essentially would create "sanctuary busses," inspired by the liberal-run sanctuary cities serving as safe havens for illegal immigrants.
"You hit the nail on the head," Judd responded. "That’s how it's going to go."
He added, "smugglers are going to exploit this policy that Greyhound has put into place."
On Saturday, acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli called for a boycott of the company, saying on Fox News that he hoped the hashtag #BoycottGreyhound would pick up.
"We’ve always been able to go on these busses and conduct these consensual encounters very reasonably... so Greyhounds reasoning just doesn’t add up," Judd responded.
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He added, "they're putting profit above the safety of the American people."
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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