The Office of Border Patrol (OBP) is approaching the end of the fiscal year. This is the time to ramp up our efforts to let our agency and our representatives know that we will not support another year of grandstanding, whitewashing and finger pointing. If we do nothing we will be in the same place we were last year come October 1, 2013. We will be facing sequestration, furloughs, decertification and a decrease in man-hours. Operating under Continuing Resolutions (CR) and Sequestration has damaged the safety of America and made it impossible for Border Patrol Agents to effectively do the jobs they have sworn an oath to do. Due to budgetary restraints manpower has been limited and invaluable resources have been underutilized. A perfect example is our canine teams. Every year OBP managers refuse to allow these teams to work the hours they are needed in order to accomplish the mission. Managers know this is going to be an issue every year around this time yet they draw a line in the sand and say they will not allow these resources to be deployed as needed because of a bean counting, bonuses threatening issues referred to as the salary cap. Canine teams are subject to the same salary constraints as other agents (even though they have the added responsibility of housing and caring for their canine partners). This causes them stress and hardship every year. Due to these constraints a waiver process was put into place so that this would not affect the mission. The problem is that the managers responsible for requesting and allowing the waivers are directly affected by having their bonuses diminish if they spend the necessary funds to keep these canine teams in the field all year. So, you can see the conflict of interest. If they allow the canines to work it directly affects their bottom line. This is just one effect of the budgetary restraints placed on The Border Patrol every year.
I suggest every agent, their friends and family call their local representatives and tell them the following.
The following statements are directly from the DHS website. This is what was requested and their reasoning.
Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request of $39.0 billion in net discretionary funding. Recognizing the current fiscal environment, the Department’s net discretionary amount is 2 percent below the FY 2012 enacted level.
Securing and Managing Our Borders - The FY 2014 Budget continues the Administration’s robust border security efforts, while facilitating legitimate travel and trade. It sustains historic deployments of personnel along U.S. borders as well as the continued utilization of proven, effective surveillance technology along the highest trafficked areas of the Southwest Border to continue achieving record levels of apprehensions and seizures.
Nationwide, Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal aliens, a key indicator of illegal immigration, decreased from nearly 724,000 in fiscal year 2008 to approximately 365,000 in fiscal year 2012, a nearly 50-percent reduction and a 78% decrease from their peak in 2000. This indicates that, as a result of increased enforcement, fewer people are attempting to illegally cross the border.
Under this Administration, DHS has dedicated historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources to our borders. The number of Border Patrol agents has more than doubled in size since 2004, to 21,370 agents. The number of Customs and Border Protection officers has also increased to 21,775.
According to these statements (accomplishments?) they will continue to ask the Border Patrol to do more with less. That has been the prevailing mantra of Chief Fisher and the current OBP management for years. I can understand that business model if this was a business that had a product and produced a profit (as does The Office of Field Operations). Border Patrol does not produce a profit and someone needs to stand up and say no more. The nation’s security is more important than a bottom line, a bonus or a promotion! Border Patrol Agents are having their pay cut, their hours “managed”, their canine partners kenneled and their ability to perform their mission dulled. Agents are being terminated, disciplined and committing suicide in record numbers. It is time to take a hard look at our policies. It is time to realize this is one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the country and not McDonalds.
What we need:
1. Pass a Budget!
2. Secure the Borders!
3. Give and utilize the waivers for our canine teams every year!
4. A smarter pay system that allows for the optimal utilization of current and future workforce. (Border Patrol Pay Reform Act)!
5. Reform of our Labor Employee/Human Resources system!
Terence L. Shigg
