President Trump signed a proclamation Tuesday honoring the 101st anniversary of the U.S. Border Patrol and blamed former President Joseph R. Biden for the abrupt cancellation of the agency’s anniversary gala last year.
“I have just signed a Proclamation for the United States Border Patrol, celebrating their 101st Anniversary,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “Shockingly, President Biden and the democrats refused to celebrate and honor them, and therefore would not sign a Proclamation celebrating this great achievement and all they have done for this country!”
The proclamation honors Border Patrol agents as “patriots who dedicate their careers to defending our borders and upholding the rule of law.”
“We pay tribute to every brave soul that perished in the line of duty while proudly serving our nation,” the proclamation says. “In their memory and in honor of their beloved family members we pledge to empower the USBP to safeguard the American homeland today, tomorrow and beyond.”
Mr. Biden did not sign a proclamation honoring the Border Patrol for the 100th anniversary last year. His administration also took heat for a gala that was suddenly canceled.
The gala to celebrate “100 years of Service” was set to take place in El Paso, Texas, in May 2024. El Paso is where the Border Patrol opened “Station One” in 1924.
More than 800 current and retired Border Patrol agents had purchased tickets to attend the gala, according to a report last year by an NBC News affiliate in San Antonio.
Then-Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens confirmed the cancellation on X at the time but did not give a reason for the abrupt cancellation.
Critics of the Biden administration had questioned whether then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas put pressure on USBP to cancel the gala. Some pointed to the fact that Jose Ibarra, the man who killed college student Laken Riley, crossed the border through El Paso and suggested that the Biden administration didn’t want to draw attention to that.
Others wondered whether concerns stemmed from an internal investigation into several agents’ connection to a Mexican tequila maker.
Mr. Owens and Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Gloria Chavez were spotted on vacation in Mexico last year where a Mexican tequila maker surprised them with a bottle of special edition tequila to commemorate the 100th anniversary.
NBC News, citing sources, said the cancellation stemmed from funding issues related to the event’s financing structure. More than $300,000 was allocated to the gala, but none of it was taxpayer funds. Instead, the money was donated to a nonprofit to organize the event. The fact that the event was funded through sponsor donations raised ethics questions.
