'Hung out to dry': Border Patrol agents say agency doing too little to protect them against coronavi

[Chosen Daughter]

'Hung out to dry': Border Patrol agents say agency doing too little to protect them against coronavirus
by Anna Giaritelli
 | March 24, 2020 12:17 AM


Federal law enforcement agents on the southern border expect Border Patrol personnel to get hit by the coronavirus but say they have not been briefed on how the agency will continue its national security operations and whether that includes their having to report to work sick.

Five Border Patrol agents who work in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California told the Washington Examiner that for weeks, the agency’s Washington and regional headquarters had done little to explain how they should protect themselves on the job beyond basic personal protective equipment.

Agents fear they are at risk for the COVID-19 virus from the tens of thousands of border crossers they arrest each month. One agent said he took into custody people from Mexico City who told them the coronavirus was rampant there, and that’s why they fled.

Last week, the agency’s social media pages began sharing pictures and videos of agents and people arrested wearing masks and gloves with reassurances that the job was not significantly affected by the coronavirus, even as the Trump administration made the unprecedented move to restrict all nonessential travel at land borders.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hung-out-to-dry-border-patrol-agents-say-agency-doing-too-little-to-protect-them-against-coronavirus

[Mesaclone]

'Hung out to dry': Border Patrol agents say agency doing too little to protect them against coronavirus
by Anna Giaritelli
 | March 24, 2020 12:17 AM


Federal law enforcement agents on the southern border expect Border Patrol personnel to get hit by the coronavirus but say they have not been briefed on how the agency will continue its national security operations and whether that includes their having to report to work sick.

Five Border Patrol agents who work in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California told the Washington Examiner that for weeks, the agency’s Washington and regional headquarters had done little to explain how they should protect themselves on the job beyond basic personal protective equipment.

Agents fear they are at risk for the COVID-19 virus from the tens of thousands of border crossers they arrest each month. One agent said he took into custody people from Mexico City who told them the coronavirus was rampant there, and that’s why they fled.

Last week, the agency’s social media pages began sharing pictures and videos of agents and people arrested wearing masks and gloves with reassurances that the job was not significantly affected by the coronavirus, even as the Trump administration made the unprecedented move to restrict all nonessential travel at land borders.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hung-out-to-dry-border-patrol-agents-say-agency-doing-too-little-to-protect-them-against-coronavirus

They ARE at risk...there's no way to sugar coat it. It goes with the job and there's no real way to fully protect them. Its what you sign up for when you work as a Fed. I've got multiple very close colleagues in quarantine as we speak... as the airport is corona-central right now ... those of us still healthy fill the gaps and work the OT to make sure the mission gets accomplished. Ditto for Border Patrol and every other agency and first responder group...nurses and medical professionals as well.

All any of us have a right to demand is that we receive good care should we get sick...ditto for our families. I don't mind these guys complaining to get needed resources...they certainly deserve them...but we're in the midst of a worldwide pandemic so none of us are going to get everything we want when we want it.

Thank god the national government and the President are doing an incredible job managing this crisis and getting resources out to the field...ditto at least for my state's Governor Ducey. I've seen more common sense and hard work in my leadership these past weeks than I've witnessed over the past year before this crisis. People are pulling together and getting their missions accomplished...but yes, there is going to be ongoing risk. That's the job.