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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the union representing tens of thousands of frontline homeland security employees today warned against the serious dangers contained in a legislative amendment that would tie non-emergency Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hiring to the national unemployment figure.

“The needs of our national security should not be tied to outside economic indicators,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). She said NTEU will work to strip from the DHS Authorization Act language offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would cap DHS non-emergency hiring until the national unemployment rate drops to 8 percent or lower.

The measure, S. 1546, was adopted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday.

President Kelley said the Paul amendment “sets a dangerous precedent, and ignores the fact that staffing shortages already exist throughout DHS, and especially at the nation’s land, air and sea ports of entry staffed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees.”

The NTEU leader cited independent studies finding a lack of staffing at ports of entry numbering in the thousands of CBP Officers (CBPOs). Moreover, she said, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that CBP needs several thousand additional CBPOs and Agriculture Specialists at these key locations. The staffing shortages, GAO said, contribute to morale problems, fatigue and safety issues for these employees.

At the same time, President Kelley welcomed a development in which Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), did not, as he earlier suggested, seek to add to the bill an amendment that would have increased the number of Border Patrol agents by reducing positions elsewhere in DHS. NTEU opposed the McCain amendment.

As the nation’s largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including more than 26,000 employees at CBP.