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Washington, D.C.—Another deadly shooting has occurred at a U.S. border crossing—the third in little more than a month—and the leader of the union representing thousands of frontline homeland security officers said this incident starkly illustrates the dangers faced by these employees and underscores their need for law enforcement officer (LEO) status.
“In the face of these incidents, can anyone seriously deny the reality that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers are truly law enforcement officers and are being unfairly denied LEO status?” asked President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
The latest border incident occurred at the U.S.-Mexican border crossing at Brownsville, Texas, when CBP Officers were forced to open fire on the driver of a stolen vehicle who was attempting to flee across the border.
At least two CBP Officers were involved, as the suspect turned the vehicle toward them and tried to run them down in an effort to escape. Earlier—and eerily similar events—recently occurred at the U.S.-Canada border in Blaine, Washington, and at the southwest border in Douglas, Arizona.
President Kelley said the failure of the government to grant LEO status to frontline CBP Officers “is one of the major factors contributing to the notoriously low morale” in CBP.
As in the case of the other two recent border shootings, when local law enforcement officers needed help to capture or stop a suspect, they reached out to CBP Officers. “The CBP Officers at our borders carry weapons, are trained in their use and have arrest authority,” President Kelley said. “There is simply no justification for continuing to deny them law enforcement officer status.” The LEO designation carries with it an early-retirement option.
NTEU is strongly supporting H.R. 1002, the Law Enforcement Officers Equity Act, a bipartisan bill that would provide CBP Officers with the LEO designation.
NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 employees in 30 agencies and departments, including 14,000 in CBP—making NTEU the largest union representing CBP employees.