U.S.
border agent: 'Morale never been lower' 'If there isn't a change soon, there will be a large exodus of
agents' by Leo Hohmann
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have had
their authority to detain illegal aliens reduced, some have been disarmed, and
now they are seeing cuts in their paychecks.
All of this is taking a toll on morale, said one
of the agents in an exclusive interview with WND.
A border agent in southeastern California said
the issues with agent pay has to do with overtime polices. “We’re getting
scrutinized like crazy for anything over eight hours,” he said.
The agent, whom WND agreed not to identify due
to the possibility of retribution against him, said the frustration level was
causing many agents in his unit, which includes about 200 officers, to look for
work elsewhere.
Congress passed a reform law that will change
the way Border Patrol agents are paid starting next year, leading to a pay cut
for most agents under the new system.
“Most of us are pretty happy with the current
system but the supervisors are not supposed to micromanage our overtime,” the
agent told WND. “We’re getting contradictory messages from our supervisors.”
On the one hand agents are told they should not
leave the field at the end of their shift if doing so would cause “a
dereliction of duty.” On the other hand, when an agent provides an overtime
justification citing a duty that had to be performed before he could leave for
the day, the justification is more often than not denied, the agent said.
Most of agents have agreed to reduce their
overtime just to “get the upper management off their backs,” he said.
And while agents in the field are expected to
rein in their overtime, supervisors often aren’t held to the same standard, he
said.
“This is just kind of the last straw,” he said.
“The last couple of years here it’s been getting to the point where the
criteria to actually send an illegal alien back to their country has just
gotten to the point where it’s ridiculous.”
The reform package passed by Congress received
the support of the border-agent union, but that shouldn’t be taken as an
endorsement by rank and file members, the agent said.
“A lot of us just aren’t even real happy with
our union,” he said. “The current system, we have our eight hours and anything
after that is considered AUO or authorized uncontrollable overtime.
“If this reform goes through most of us are
going to be mandated to stay 10 hours regardless of whether there’s any
activity going on or not,” he said. “It depends on the sector.”
WND
reported last month that U.S. Customs and
Border Patrol, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, was
removing about half of the M4 carbine rifles from the hands of border agents,
citing safety issues that needed to be corrected. But Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa,
wasn’t buying the excuse, saying the M4 was one of the most reliable weapons in
the world.
‘They’re just being
released’
That didn’t set well with agents. Nor does the
recent changes to the policy of “voluntary return,” which is available only for
Mexican nationals.
This policy “has been corrupted of late,” the
agent said.
“Voluntary return is where if we catch them and
ask if they agree to voluntarily return to Mexico in the next 24 hours or
thereabouts, they can avoid being sent to a detention center and a court
hearing,” he said. “They’ve basically taken that away from us and illegal
Mexican aliens that used to qualify for the voluntary return program are now
being processed to go to court.”
So they get put in a camp or holding facility,
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes over from there.
“ICE has reduced their criteria on who they will
hold in camp and many are just being released,” the agent told WND.
“Initially it sounded good, to basically
eliminate the voluntary return program and send them to camp which would put
them in front of a judge,” he said. “They would spend some time in camp, which
is basically a jail, so they don’t make it into American communities. Ideally
for most Mexican nationals it’s best for them to do a voluntary return. If they
go to camp they could spend 30 to 60 days in detention before they see a judge,
but now ICE is given discretion and if that alien doesn’t meet this new
criteria we’re going to give them an OR (release on their own recognizance) and
basically none are going to show up for court and they’re released back into
our society.”
Overtime justifications that were acceptable just
two months ago are no longer approved now, the agent said. And the smugglers
are smart enough to recognize any change in policy. He said they quickly
exploit any holes in the system.
“Due to this harassment by the supervisors,
agents are just choosing to leave their patrol areas and head back to the
station before the next shift arrives in the area,” the agent said. “The net
result is that active smuggling routes and other critical areas are not
receiving adequate coverage.”
Smugglers often target the “shift change” time
frame to cross the border with illegal aliens and drugs, he said.
The Southeast California border station is
relatively small, employing about 200 agents.
“If there isn’t a change soon, there will be a
large exodus of agents leaving the Border Patrol and finding employment
elsewhere,” the agent told WND.
The exodus may have already started.
“One guy in our station is quitting next week to
become a sheriff’s deputy,” the agent said. “We had another guy switch over to
Customs because they don’t get the same scrutiny we do. They get all kinds of
overtime. The guys in blue, for whatever reason, get overtime but they bring in
money so maybe that’s why they look the other way on their overtime.”
Another Border Patrol station near Ajo, south of
Phoenix in western Arizona, has dozens of agents at any given time trying to
switch over to Customs, the agent said.
“So they’re fed up as well,” he said. “Part of
it may be because it’s a real rural area but when you throw all the other crap
on top of it, if I can’t do the job I’m hired to do and I’m getting harassed by
management.”
Jaime Ruiz, press officer for the California
region of Border Patrol, did not return a call from WND Friday seeking comment
on the agent’s allegations.
“It’s just, you got all that and now we’re
getting heat from up above that you better have a really, really good reason to
stay above your eight hours,” he said. “The smugglers are going to try to
smuggle during the shift change because that’s when we have the least amount of
coverage.”
‘Starting to feel the
beat down’
He said morale is at the lowest point he’s seen
since he began working at Border Patrol nearly a decade ago.
“I talked to a guy at work tonight as I was
leaving and we were talking about this whole AUO thing and he was saying, ‘You
know, the way I’m looking at it I’m not going to fight anymore. I’m just going
to do my time and go home.’ And this was coming from a guy really good at his
job, and that says a lot coming from him, because he’s one of the motivated
type. He’s not just a guy who comes and fills a spot and goes back home, he is
a go getter.”
“I’m the same way and I’m starting to feel the
beat down.”
Border Patrol employs more than 22,000 agents
but many of them have desk jobs and never go out in the field, the agent said.
“A lot of it has to do with this administration
which a lot of us are not a fan of,” he said. “Nobody would mistake George W.
Bush for a border warrior but what we’re seeing now makes that seem like the
good ole days. And we’re getting contradictory messages from this
administration. I don’t know what it is. I’ve never seen a weaker management
structure.”
If he could ask one question of the upper
management at Homeland Security the agent said it would be this:
“Why don’t you support and back up the agents
when they are trying to do the job they were hired to do?” he said. “It really
goes to the top. When the heat comes down, they kind of step aside and let us
fend for ourselves. We have a high level of distrust for our management.”
The agent said he was not holding out too much
hope that the reforms passed by Congress will offer much of a remedy for the
low morale.
“I think they’re claiming it will make our pay
more predictable and more consistent. If that’s true that will help boost our
morale somewhat but we’re still dealing with all the other issues, like DACA
and amnesty and all of the domiciled aliens, and if they can put up a good
story and get a liberal judge saying he’s got a family here, just let him stay,
then that’s all they have to do.”
Criminal backgrounds
common
The agent said most Americans would be shocked
to see the criminal records of the average illegal male immigrant.
“The attitude is ‘Oh, he’s got only a couple of
DUIs, he’s not really that bad of a guy. If they don’t have multiple DUIs on
their record the prosecutors and the judges look at them like ‘huh, only two
DUIs and one domestic violence? Let’s release him for now and give him a court
date and we’ll determine his status later.’”
“I get people coming up to me saying ‘Oh, man,
you’re in the Border Patrol you must love it!”
He said he just nods and doesn’t say much.
“If I told everyone what was really going on I
think I would suck the wind out of every room I entered,” the agent said.
“People have no idea. The DUIs are just rampant, the most common, but you also
get a fair amount of domestic violence and petty theft.”
He said it is not at all uncommon to pull over a
vehicle in a local community and find it “just full of beers, open beers. And
the attitude is ‘Oh he’s kind of a run of the mill guy, he’s not too bad, he
hasn’t killed or raped someone so we’ll go ahead and release him now and deal
with him at a later date.’”
Source:http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/serious-new-problem-at-u-s-border-patrol/
No comments:
Post a Comment