Anthony Reardon, the head of the union representing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port officers, has raised concerns about the agency’s and Congress’ dedication to hiring more officers to fill understaffed ports of entry.
The head of the union representing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port officers is expressing concern that an agency strategy document indicates that sufficient funds might not be provided to boost officer staffing at ports of entry
The comments from Anthony Reardon, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NETU), came during a House Homeland Security Border and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing on Thursday in which Democrats aggressively questioned Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on cost-benefit analyses of a proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reardon said the funding source of a CBP proposal to allocate $1.6 billion in the next several years for 2,516 CBP officers along the southern border appears to be a proposed increase in immigration and customs user fees, as opposed to a direct appropriation.
But subcommittee Chairwoman Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said that the document, “Critical CBP Requirements to Improve Border Security,” which was submitted to Congress in January and outlines $33 billion to be spent on major border security investments over the next several years, does include direct funding for 2,516 port officers. The document, however, is marked for “official use only,” and therefore has not been made public at this time.
Reardon noted that user fees can’t be increased without enactment of new legislation, but that congressional committees of jurisdiction “have never shown any interest or even held a hearing” to discuss such executive branch proposals that have been put forth every year since fiscal 2014, including in the FY 2019 budget request.
“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.
McSally said the Securing America’s Future Act of 2018, introduced in January, sets out funding for 5,000 CBP port of entry officers, but that bill remains pending at the committee level, according to a summary on Congress.gov.
“We’ve been partnering with you,” McSally said during the hearing. “We know this is a critical issue both between the ports of entry and at the ports of entry, and our legislation continues to support addressing these issues for the CBP officers. They’ve been working day in and day out under pretty difficult conditions.”
Reardon in written hearing testimony mentioned that another bill, the Border and Port Security Act, introduced by subcommittee ranking member Filemon Vela, D-Texas, in February, would authorize the hiring of 500 additional CBP officers and other CBP Office of Field Operations staff annually, until CBP-described staffing gaps are filled.
During his opening statement at the hearing, Vela said CBP port officers are critical to ensuring border security, and criticized President Donald Trump for focusing too much on a proposed $18 billion border wall in lieu of port officer staffing.
While Trump was in San Diego earlier this month to view border wall prototypes, he didn’t visit the San Ysidro or Otay Mesa ports of entry in Southern California to get a sense of the volume of cargo or people that CBP officers must screen daily, Vela said.
“Rather, the administration is seeking to nearly double the number of miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry,” he said.
Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., noted that port officers he has visited told him they can often spot people guilty of illicit activity just by looking at them, at which point they utilize canines to confirm their suspicions.
He asked whether DHS has a matrix to measure where border security investments would be optimal, noting that more bad actors would likely test the U.S. northern border as well as southern ports of entry if the southern wall is built.
Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., also questioned DHS metrics for determining allocation of funding to border security, and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., asked whether CBP could make the port-of-entry officer position more appealing instead of building a physical barrier.
Responding to Demings, CBP Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello said while CBP personnel are the most important resource, the agency must balance personnel with infrastructure and technology considerations in the border security equation.
He mentioned an ongoing CBP project at the Calexico (Calif.) Port of Entry, where fiberoptic cable is being installed with border fencing, which should help CBP determine whether people could be digging tunnels near border infrastructure.
Testifying during the hearing, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Homeland Security and Justice Director Rebecca Gambler said DHS doesn’t have metrics in place to assess the contributions made by specific investments to border security.
Further, GAO released a report Thursday that found CBP public-private partnerships to be beneficial, but noted the agency could strengthen evaluation efforts of the programs. GAO recommended that CBP develop an evaluation plan to assess overall performance of its reimbursable services and donations acceptance programs related to the private sector, a recommendation with which DHS concurred.
DHS Under Secretary for Management Claire Grady said during the hearing the department can “isolate the outcomes” and attribute them to “specific technology,” and can then determine what technologies are having the most positive effects.
But she also indicated in response to a question from Correa that there currently is no mechanism to provide a more holistic value comparison across different border investments.
DHS and CBP in about a year’s time will produce the results of an ongoing study to provide a clearer picture on what specific investments will work best in securing the border, Vitiello and Grady indicated.
“As the department is commanding us to do, we’re looking to give you a better history of what’s happening, and what has happened, and which of the investments are most appropriate,” Vitiello said.
Union leader questions CBP border investment strategy
