The White House held a special event this week in honor of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and their agents. President Donald Trump was there as was Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Homeland Security is Kirstjen Nielsen. The event included a panel that discussed what ICE is about and the type of the work they do, which served as a way to dispel the notion that ICE only detains undocumented immigrants. All the attention, however, is being given to one agent who was introduced by President Trump as speaking “perfect English.”
President Trump and other high ranking government officials wanted to celebrate the work of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in a special ceremony.
Twitter/@annalectaYet, things didn’t quite go as planned for the event. Several people on social media pointed out that Trump kept referring to the Customs and Border Protection as “CBC” and not its correct acronym which is CBP even though it’s on the teleprompter.
Present Trump then asked one Latino agent up to the stage and jokingly asked if he was nervous. Trump also prefaced the introduction by making it clear that he speaks English.
Here's that moment when President Trump invites a CBP agent to the podium and says,
"You're not nervous, right? Speaks perfect English." pic.twitter.com/tPljviWcFD— Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) August 20, 2018
The agent’s name is Adrian Anzaldua and he was being honored for stopping a smuggler who had 78 undocumented immigrants in a truck.
Trump did not make any attempt to pronounce the agents last name when calling him to the stage.
Pres singles out Border Patrol Agent Adrian Anzaldua, for saving 78 lives by tracking and arresting a human smuggler with 78 illegal aliens locked in a truck trailer. "Great job," said @POTUS, "that a lot of lives." pic.twitter.com/njCIqIq31c
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 20, 2018
According to KSAT, on Aug. 11 Anzaluda made the stop in Laredo, Texas. He pulled over a refrigerated tractor-trailer and in the locked trailer were 78 people from various countries including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Ecuador, India and the Dominican Republic.
Anzaluda didn’t make mention to Trump’s comments when speaking to the audience.
Trump invites a border patrol agent named Adrian to stage to recount his experience arresting a smuggler. President notes this federal employee "speaks perfect English." pic.twitter.com/JJxbrdr83h
— Laura Figueroa Hernandez (@Laura_Figueroa) August 20, 2018
Instead, the agent spoke about what happened on the day he discovered 78 undocumented immigrants in the back of a tractor trailer. According to Anzaluda, the truck skipped a mandatory checkpoint which prompted him to pull the truck over and conduct a search.
Trump then shook his hand and said that Anzaluda had done a good job, and that the following day Anzaluda would probably “run for office.”
People on social media were astounded that Trump would comment on the agent’s language skills just because he’s Latino.
Trump is speaking at a ceremony for immigration agents. He just called a border officer with a Latino name up to the microphone to speak and commented that the officer speaks "perfect English." He's American.
— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) August 20, 2018
Some Twitter users pointed out that he is an American so the comment was unnecessary.
Some people were quick to make jokes about the president’s command of English.
Trump just introduced a border agent and proclaimed he "speaks perfect English." Sadly, the border agent couldn't return the compliment.
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) August 20, 2018
Trump has a well-documented history of Twitter typos and incorrectly used words.
But, the actual surprise of the comment is not really there for most people.
Trump started his campaign calling Mexicans “rapists” and “murderers.” Of course he will say that a Latino border agent “speaks perfect English.” Dude has been a racist since day one.
Thanks @Omarosa, but we don’t need your tapes. We’ve already know.
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) August 20, 2018
Omarosa made news recently for admitting that she recorded conversations in the White House that will reveal racist language and inappropriate conduct. However, a lot of people following the Trump residency don’t feel the need to listen to the tapes.
So many people are tying this to the long-running narrative of the Trump administration.
Trump, calling an Hispanic looking-immigration BP agent: "Come here. You're not nervous, right? Speaks perfect English."
This is the thing that impressed Trump: not that he saved people from human trafficking.
That the brown guy could speak English.pic.twitter.com/m1qlJkF66J
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 20, 2018
The transcripts from the speech shows President Trump spending more time making jokes than highlighting Anzaluda’s career.
Of course, the comment is all the more bizarre if you consider how many Latinos speak English.
Reminder: 70% of Latinos in America WERE BORN HERE so yes, the vast majority of us “speak perfect English”. #sheesh
— Lisa Guerrero 💃🏽 (@4lisaguerrero) August 20, 2018
In fact, there has been a drop in Latinos speaking Spanish at home.
Instead of these events, the American people want a real, honest press conference.
Instead of this overly produced propaganda how about you hold a press conference?
— Out of fucks to give (@jennmasonNFB418) August 21, 2018
So, let’s hope that at some point, now that Paul Manafort has been found guilty and Michael Cohen took a plea deal, we will finally start getting answers.
