A recent survey reveals that a quarter of the agents at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plan to leave their jobs within a year, warns Joseph Cuffari, Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, The Epoch Times reports.
The findings, based on responses from over 9,300 of the 577,000 CBP and ICE agents surveyed, cited several reasons including increased workload, inconsistent border policies, irrelevant task assignments, resource insufficiency, and excessive overtime.
Presenting the findings at the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, Cuffari raised concerns about the impending staffing crisis.
According to the report, CBP and ICE have no contingency plans to address these issues.
Critics of the report include Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), who dubbed it as “deeply flawed, politicized, and problematic.”
He added, “This is a report that would not pass muster in any serious survey work.”
Subcommittee Chair Glenn Grothman (R-WI) countered these critiques, suggesting they were politically motivated due to Cuffari’s appointment by Donald Trump.
The report revealed that migrant encounters surged by 143 percent from FY 2019 to FY 2022, exacerbating the workload of the agents.
Additionally, CBP spent $37.9 million from 2018 to 2022 for temporary additional duties that caused “turmoil for the agents and their families,” according to Cuffari.
He highlighted that agents were often detailed at the southwest border for periods of 30 to 60 days, causing “a constant churn.”
Overtime was another significant concern.
The southwest border accumulated 5.1 million overtime hours, equating to $403 million in gross overtime pay.
In the first seven months of FY 2022 alone, CBP recorded 881,000 hours of overtime, which the report equates to 14 additional workdays for the year, Epoch Times notes.
The survey also found that a substantial portion of agents feels underequipped, with 71 percent of CBP and 61 percent of ICE agents responding that their stations lack the necessary resources.
Cuffari reported that many stations were ill-equipped with tracking technology, resorting to paper records and whiteboards for keeping track of illegal migrants.
Garcia, however, criticized the survey data, saying it was voluntary and unverifiable. He likened the reliability of the survey to that of “a Twitter survey.”
Garcia also called out Cuffari for failing to promptly inform Congress when the Secret Service allegedly deleted text messages during a January 6 protests investigation.
Despite criticism, some agreed with the report’s findings. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) commented, “They ain’t going good,” reflecting the sentiments of border agents.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) also expressed agreement, suggesting that reducing illegal border crossings, rather than increasing personnel, would be a more effective solution.
Grothman echoed these sentiments, stating, “They uniformly say that the biggest problem is not a lack of personnel. It is the policies of the Biden administration and that they got rid of the remain-in-Mexico policy.”
Biden Administration’s Border Policies Result in Plunging Morale and Dangerous Staffing Shortages, Reveals House Subcommittee Hearing
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs recently held a hearing to discuss how the Biden Administration’s policies are affecting law enforcement staffing at the border.
The hearing shed light on the mounting challenges faced by border patrol agents, which are reportedly leading to a significant drop in morale among law enforcement personnel.
Joseph Cuffari, the Inspector General at DHS, shared findings from the department’s May 3, 2023, report.
The report, which involved interviews with over 9,000 law enforcement personnel, concluded that the recent surge in migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has “magnified existing staffing challenges” at DHS.
Cuffari explained, “Law enforcement personnel feel overworked and unable to perform their primary law enforcement duties.”
Cuffari outlined how the record-high migrant influx is putting a considerable strain on personnel at the border.
He explained that the current management methods of law enforcement staffing by CBP and ICE are not effective, stating that “[d]espite greater workloads, staffing levels have remained the same, with CBP and ICE using details and overtime to temporarily surge staffing along the Southwest border.”
Such unsustainable methods, including the use of temporary duty assignments and overtime shift work, are reportedly impacting the health and morale of law enforcement personnel negatively.
IG Cuffari noted, “Law enforcement cannot continue to use temporary duty assignments and overtime shiftwork effectively to meet the challenges of the southwest border.”
The staffing shortage crisis is not only affecting morale but is also creating dangerous conditions along the southwest border.
Cuffari testified that these shortages are hindering efforts to combat human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other illicit activities.
During the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) highlighted how the reliance on temporary details to fill staffing gaps is leading to overworked agents and vulnerable areas left unprotected.
Grothman questioned the effectiveness of DHS detailing practices, asking, “How can DHS improve their detailing practices to make sure the detailees are actually performing jobs within their job description?”
Cuffari suggested the need for an “outside national academy to take a look and develop strategic staffing models.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) pointed out that border agents, who are supposed to enhance law enforcement, often end up performing administrative and humanitarian duties instead.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) raised concerns about the DHS’s pattern of stonewalling lawful investigations by the OIG. He criticized the DHS for not complying with the requirements of the Inspector General Act.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) addressed the issue of plummeting morale among agents. When asked if morale is at its lowest, Cuffari said it has “significantly increased since I started with my federal civil service in 1993.”
Finally, Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) underscored how staffing shortages create dangerous conditions along the border, leading to an inability to effectively combat human trafficking, drug smuggling, and other illicit activities.
IG Cuffari confirmed this, stating, “A negative impact.”
