Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson was in Washington, D.C. on February 8 to attend a speech by President Donald J. Trump at a law enforcement convention.

During the speech at the Major County Sheriffs’ Association/Major Cities Chiefs Association convention at the JW Marriott hotel, President Trump told sheriffs, police chiefs and other law enforcement personnel that the White House will fully support them in their quest to make America’s communities safer and secure our country’s borders.

The roughly 30-minute address included President Trump vowing to take a “zero tolerance policy” on violence against law enforcement, provide resources and tools to cities and counties can keep their communities safe, and secure the borders to keep illegal alien criminals and drugs from entering the U.S.

“It is time to stop drugs from pouring into our countries, and we will do it,” President Trump said. “And General, now Secretary (of Homeland Security) Kelly will be the one to do it, and we’ll give him a border wall, a real wall. … The Wall is getting designed right now. We will have a wall and it will be a great wall.”

After the speech by President Trump, Hodgson expressed his support for President Trump’s goals.

“I’m extremely pleased that the president has doubled down on his commitment to secure our borders, attack the flow of drugs into our communities and restore accountability for those who violate our laws,” Sheriff Hodgson said in a press release.

In January, Sheriff Hodgson made national headlines when he offered Trump the service of Bristol County inmates to help build a wall running the length of the United States southern border.

That announcement – made at his inauguration to debut a long-distance prison work program called Project N.I.C.E. – drew threats of lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union and protests in front of the Sheriff’s Office’s Ash Street Jail in New Bedford.

Most recently, Hodgson signed up for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) program, which allows officers who complete a training program with ICE to conduct immigration investigations.