House Speaker Paul Ryan is under attack on a new front, after the national union which represents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers accused the Speaker of enabling the border crisis.

Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, said the 7,000 officers he represents “wish the speaker of the House would be more vocal in championing an immigration policy that defends the rule of law, and represents the interests of American citizens and lawful residents and protects their safety.”

Crane wrote Ryan deploys rhetoric which “could be adding to that perception” illegals believe they will be allowed to remain in the United States despite breaking the law — and accused Ryan of not caring about the children crossing the border who “are molested and perish.”

The border crisis has been a nightmarish crisis for women and children smuggled illegally into the U.S. “The rape trees are a common practice in this area,” as human trafficking investigator Daniel Walden told Breitbart Texas. “The women are warned in Mexico that they likely will be raped and assaulted during the trafficking process. It is common for mothers to put their young daughters on the pill or some other form of contraception before sending them north. Human trafficking is about the smuggler having power and control over their victims. The rape trees send a signal to those who follow about what will happen if you get out of line. The women are terrorized into submission.”

Such crimes against young women and children could be halted if the U.S. simply enforced its existing immigration law, Crane said.

“Any political leader who truly cares about these children will stop the rhetoric and begin working with law enforcement to develop sound immigration policy to end the crisis on our nation’s border,” he charged.

Scrambling to repel a strong primary challenge from populist candidate Paul Nehlen, Ryan has flooded his Wisconsin district with deceptive mailers touting the Speaker’s support for border security. But Ryan supported a spending bill last year which funded sanctuary cities, Barack Obama’s unilateral amnesty, and the release of criminal aliens. These are programs “which should never have been funded,” Crane wrote.

Crane said Ryan does not understand the severity of the problem: “We are in the middle of a national crisis – immigration officers are prohibited from enforcing the laws of the United States, and as a result dangerous criminal aliens are being released into American communities daily.”

“Our ICE officers are overwhelmed,” Crane warned. “Recently, ICE was ranked 314th-or dead last-in morale among 314 federal agencies surveyed by the Office of Personnel Management. While specific members of Congress have been vocal in standing up for our officers and fighting to defend law and order, we have not felt that same support from the Speaker’s office. In the nine months that you have served as House Speaker, I am not aware of you holding a single press conference devoted exclusively to addressing this national crisis.

“Indeed we were disheartened to learn that instead, the House Speaker intends to push and fund policies, which we believe would only exacerbate the situation.”

Crane requested Ryan sponsor legislation to help solve the border security crisis, meet with officers of ICE, and hold a press conference with the National ICE Council within the next week.

Ryan is already being blasted by Phyllis Schlafly and former Congressman Tom Tancredo on his immigration record.