The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), a nationwide union and part of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), made more than 80 percent of its 2024 political donations to Democrats, including to U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09).
Members of the union were recently cited by National Public Radio when it reported that 15 immigration judges were told their contracts would not be renewed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which has urged the judges to process cases faster to achieve the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.
“It’s outrageous and against the public interest that at a time when the Congress has authorized 800 immigration judges, we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause,” IFPTE President Matt Briggs told the publicly funded news organization. “This is hypocritical — you can’t enforce immigration laws when you fire the enforcers.”
IFPTE claims to have more than 90,000 members, working in fields as disparate as “auditors, engineers, judges, lawyers, researchers, scientists, and technicians to name a few,” who are members through local affiliates established throughout the United States and Canada.
While its president suggested that IFPTE members serving as immigration judges are necessary for President Donald Trump to complete his immigration agenda, data from the political finance website OpenSecrets reveals that IFPTE’s political action committee (PAC) has historically favored Democrats, with 82 percent of its contributions supporting the party’s candidates in 2024.
Contributions from the IFTPE PAC were even more partisan in 2022, when about 92 percent of its political contributions were made to Democrats.
Federal campaign filings reveal Democrats supported by IFPTE included Cohen, who received a total of $5,500 during the 2024 political cycle, including $1,500 earmarked for his primary campaign to retain his party’s nomination. Cohen won the Democratic primary with about 74 percent of the vote.
The rest of the IFPTE PAC contributions to Cohen were sent following the primary, but before the general election in November, when Cohen beat his Republican opponent with more than 71 percent of the vote.
Cohen has emerged as an opponent to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, having sought to explain himself after he accidentally voted for a resolution that both condemned antisemitism and praised U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I support deporting people that are here illegally who’ve committed serious crimes such as murder, rape or child sexual offenses,” Cohen told ABC 24 last month. He then accused the Trump administration of changing its mind, and determining, “if you’re here illegally, that’s enough of a crime to have you arrested and deported.”
The Democrat has additionally published a guide for illegal immigrants on his congressional website.
Titled “Know Your Rights: Immigration Rights and Resources 101,” the guide offers various tips, including “You do not have to open the door.”
Illegal immigrants who may view his congressional website are informed, “ICE does not have the right to enter your home without a valid warrant signed by a judge with your specific and correct name and address on it. You can ask for their identification through a window, and you have the right to ask for an explanation as to why they are at your home.”
Cohen’s web page also suggests those in the country illegally photograph or record the “badge number and patrol car,” of ICE agents, capturing “pictures if needed,” if they determine “an ICE officer is violating your rights (or you witness this occurring,)” even as Democrats, including Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, have been accused of doxxing federal law enforcement.
Both Cohen and U.S. Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-05) tied as the recipients of the largest contribution from IFTPE PAC during the last political cycle, but the many of the group’s top 2024 contributions were to prominent Democrats, including U.S. Representatives Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07).
Republicans who received money from the political action committee include Representative Don Bacon (R-NE-02), who recently announced that he would not seek another term in Congress.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
