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Washington, D.C.—Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees are forced to work overtime and asked to take assignments far from home because their agency is chronically understaffed and is struggling to accomplish its mission, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) told a congressional panel today.

To avoid further disrupting employees’ lives—and to ensure that CBP is adequately staffed to protect the homeland and maintain the flow of travel and commerce at the nation’s ports—Congress should increase funding to allow the agency to hire additional CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists, according to NTEU National President Tony Reardon.

In testimony submitted for a hearing conducted by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Reardon said CBP Officers in particular are demoralized by having to work 12-15 hour shifts for months and work far from home.

“Ongoing staff shortages contribute to CBP’s ranking at the very bottom of the Partnership for Public Service’s ‘Best Places to Work’ Survey,” the NTEU leader said. “There is no greater roadblock to legitimate trade and travel efficiency than the lack of sufficient staff at the ports. Understaffed ports lead to long delays in our commercial lanes as cargo waits to enter U.S. commerce and significant hardship for CBP Officers.”

Not having enough Agriculture Specialists poses an additional threat, this time to the U.S. farming sector, which generates $1 trillion in economic activity per year, Reardon added.

NTEU expressed support for the White House’s proposal to give CBP $12.9 billion in fiscal year 2017. That is 5.2 percent more than the amount Congress provided the agency for this year.

While NTEU applauds CBP’s plan to meet its 2014 goal to hire 2,000 additional CBP Officers, the agency’s most recent workload staffing model shows an ongoing shortfall of 2,071 Officers and 631 Agriculture Specialists, the NTEU leader said.

One way to increase staffing is for Congress not to divert resources targeted to hire additional CBP Officers to purposes unrelated to higher levels of staffing at the nation’s ports, he said.

“NTEU was disappointed that Congress, in last year’s highway bill, diverted Customs User fees to serve as an offset for highway funding, rather than use this fee increase to hire additional CBP Officers,” President Reardon said in the testimony. “NTEU will work to redirect this $400 million a year funding stream back to CBP for its intended use—to pay for inspection services provided to the user.”

NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments, including about 25,000 CBP employees.