Home Media Center News Releases

Washington, D.C.—The head of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today offered her unqualified support for legislation advanced by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) that would extend to Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) the designation of federal law enforcement officer (LEO) that has long been unfairly denied them.

The Mikulski bill is a companion measure to a bipartisan proposal in the House—H.R. 1002—introduced by Reps. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) and John McHugh (R-N.Y.) that would accomplish the same purpose. H.R. 1002 currently has 152 sponsors.

All three legislators have strongly supported the grant of LEO status for CBP Officers; the designation carries with it a 20-year retirement option and is attached to a large number of federal employees, including some who do not work in law enforcement.

NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley welcomed the attention to the issue that introduction of the Mikulski bill will generate in the Senate. “Our increased national awareness of and emphasis on port security and related matters,” the NTEU president said, “is helping to focus on the clear law enforcement nature of the work of CBP Officers. These employees are an essential ingredient in ensuring the security of our ports. The continual denial of LEO status is harming the ability of the federal government to recruit and retain the dedicated employees we need during such a crucial time for our nation.”

CBP Officers “put their lives on the line every day in the course of their work at our nation’s ports of entry,” including land, air and seaports, Kelley said.

She emphasized that these dedicated and experienced men and women carry weapons, are trained in their use, have and exercise arrest authority, and frequently—as has happened three times in recent months—are called upon by local law enforcement officers to assist in the apprehension of criminal suspects. Each of these incidents put officers’ lives in danger, as have other such incidents in the past.

“There is simply, and absolutely, no justification for continuing to deny these employees LEO status,” the union leader said. “NTEU will work as hard as we can to convince members of Congress that the Filner-McHugh and Mikulski bills should be enacted promptly and that it is time to right this longstanding wrong.”

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including 14,000 in CBP.