Border Patrol agents are expressing intentions to depart from the crucial federal agency in significant numbers should Vice President Kamala Harris secure victory in November. Several agents have conveyed to the New York Post their inability to withstand an additional four years of feeling undermined and being used as scapegoats.
“I’m not doing this s–t again … four years of hell,” one agent, who isn’t anywhere close to retirement, told the outlet. Another added, “Lots of guys who can retire will go. If Trump wins, they’ll stay.”
On Monday, the National Border Patrol Council, representing the Border Patrol union, expressed strong support for the former president. Sources indicate that the Border Patrol has faced considerable turnover and a notable decline in morale during the Biden-Harris administration.
Since October 2020, the agency has seen a reduction of over 4,000 personnel, resulting in a workforce of approximately 19,000 employees, as reported by the Washington Examiner. Efforts to address this issue, such as increasing recruitment bonuses from $10,000 to as high as $30,000 and encouraging the return of retired agents, have proven insufficient to bridge the gap.
Both Trump and Harris have pledged to enhance the Border Patrol, with the Republican nominee revealing plans on Sunday to expand the force by one-third, which would involve the addition of 10,000 new agents. Nevertheless, several agents who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity due to concerns about potential repercussions from their superiors suggested that if Harris assumes office, she may confront a significant staffing crisis within the agency.
“We will have another exodus just because we will have a bunch of 20-year agents saying ‘peace out,’” one agent told the outlet. He also believes that the more experienced agents, with five to 10 years on the job, who do much of the grunt work for the agency, will use their skills to find other jobs.
“Under this administration, they’ve done everything they could to make our job as inefficient as possible. They can’t outwardly tell us not to do our job, but when you’re watching criminals come in and get released it sucks,” another agent told The Post.
The agency’s decreasing morale has led to the decision to employ its inaugural suicidologist in response to the increasing suicide rate within Customs and Border Protection, including Border Patrol. According to The Post, the agency recorded an unprecedented 15 suicides in 2022.
“The morale has never been as low in the Border Patrol, but under the Biden-Harris administration and her current ads, acting like she’s pro-border security is just putting salt on an already gaping wound for the morale of border Border Patrol agents and law enforcement,” former Yuma Border Patrol Chief Chris Clem previously told the outlet.
He added: “Kamala Harris has been bad for morale, for not only law enforcement around the country, but also for our border security personnel.”
