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A high-speed chase of two murder suspects ending in gunfire at the U.S.-Canadian border near Blaine, Washington, and involving Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers is a stark reminder of the dangers these dedicated federal employees face everyday. And it further sharply underscores the clear need to extend to CBP Officers the designation of federal Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) that has been unfairly denied them. The incident yesterday clearly illustrates that CBP Officers are trained and are expected to act as law enforcement professionals. The CBP employees involved at Blaine were armed, had the authority to arrest the suspects, were put in harm’s way facing the danger of either being shot or run down by fleeing suspects in a car, and in fact did play a key role in the apprehension.

I had the opportunity to meet with NTEU-represented CBP employees at Blaine the day before this dangerous incident. They expressed to me their frustration about the continuing denial of LEO status. As I made clear to them, securing LEO status for these men and women remains a high priority for NTEU, including pressing for pending legislation that would remedy this long-standing wrong. I commend these brave officers for their role in apprehending dangerous murder suspects, and call on Congress to expeditiously approve H.R. 1002 and recognize that CBP Officers are indeed federal law enforcement officers.