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Washington, D.C. – The administration’s new $33 billion border security proposal shortchanges the people who work at, and depend upon, the nation’s 328 ports of entry, National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon testified to Congress today.

Based on the government’s own staffing models, Customs and Border Protection needs 3,651 more Officers and 721 more Agriculture Specialists to make the air, sea and land ports of entry operate efficiently and safely. While Congress and the administration focus on the border and interior immigration enforcement, the ports are left dangerously short-staffed.

“I am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that there is no serious effort by Congress at this time to fund the hiring of critically needed CBP Officers in the FY 2019 budget or the $33 billion border security funding proposal,” Reardon said.

Reardon testified today before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security about the administration’s Border Security Improvement Plan, which Congress ordered the Department of Homeland Security to develop.

The plan acknowledges the staffing crisis at the ports by calling for the hiring of 2,516 additional CBP Officers, but it does not set aside regular funding to do so. Instead, it recommends a $1.6 billion increase in user fees to pay for the new hiring, an inadequate strategy that Congress has already rejected in prior years.

Reardon urged Congress to provide the $1.6 billion in regular appropriations to hire the Officers, as well as other funding to add Agriculture Specialists and canine teams, and restore recruitment and retention awards.

The ports of entry can drive economic growth by facilitating legitimate trade and travel. For example, in 2016, CBP personnel processed more than $2.2 trillion in imports and collected more than $44 billion in duties, taxes and other fees.

“There is no greater roadblock to border security – stopping illicit trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons and money – and to ensuring legitimate trade and travel efficiency than the lack of sufficient staff at the ports,” Reardon said.

Reardon last testified before the subcommittee about CBP staffing needs in January.

NTEU is supporting H.R. 4940, the bipartisan Border and Port Security Act, which would authorize the hiring of 500 additional CBP Officers and other staff until the shortage is eliminated. A similar bill, S. 2314, has been introduced in the Senate.

NTEU represents 150,000 employees at 32 federal agencies and departments.