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Washington, D.C. — The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today criticized a pending Senate amendment that would increase Border Patrol agents on the southwest border by reducing positions elsewhere in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) including the already understaffed ports of entry.
“Congress cannot continue to rob Peter to pay Paul under the guise of deficit reduction,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said. “That is exactly what this amendment would do by ignoring the desperate need for Customs and Border Protection Officers at the ports and actually eliminating jobs elsewhere at DHS.”
In letters to members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Kelley called on the senators to reject the amendment, offered by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for failing to recognize existing staffing problems at CBP.
The NTEU president cited independent studies that show CBP is understaffed at ports of entry by thousands of officers. For example, the lack of human resources for the San Ysdiro, Calif., crossing alone is in the hundreds and the CBP Officer needs at all ports of entry located along the border with Mexico is in the thousands. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that CBP needs several thousand additional CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists at all the ports of entry. The staffing shortages, GAO says, contribute to morale problems, fatigue, and safety issues for CBP Officers.
“Today, many CBP Officers at southwest border ports are required to work back to back 12 and 16 hour shifts to cover primary processing,” Kelley wrote. “These hours are unrelenting and brutal.”
Kelley also pointed to CBP Officers on the northern border being forced on temporary duty assignments to southwest border ports, while there are also staffing shortages on specialized units, such as Anti-Terrorism-Contraband Enforcement Teams, that provide critical support to primary operations.
NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including more than 26,000 employees at CBP.