Border Patrol agents warn of morale collapse amid crisis: 'Downtrodden, almost dead inside'
by Anna Giaritelli, Homeland Security Reporter |
| August 22, 2021 06:01 AM
AUSTIN, Texas — Twelve Border Patrol agents are the only federal law enforcement officers present along a 245-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border surrounding Del Rio, Texas. It’s the lowest-ever number of agents on duty in the area, even as more migrants illegally cross here now than ever before.
The surge of illegal immigration is taking a significant toll because it has kept agents from carrying out their national security mission. Agents say they are physically drained and struggling to see beyond the crisis.
“Morale is in the toilet,” said Jon Anfinsen, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's union. "Morale is low because agents aren't allowed to do their job — if our job is to be out patrolling the border in between the ports of entry and actively searching for people who have crossed illegally, but we're not allowed to go do that job, it basically creates this defeated feeling in everyone."
“Morale is tanking fast. This can be seen in the simple statements made by agents, but even more importantly, it can be seen in increasing processing times. Agents are just flat tired, and we are seeing and hearing it,” a former senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that oversees the Border Patrol, wrote in an email.
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