Local 2544

You can only find the truth if you're not afraid of looking for it. This Blog, such as it is, has been dedicated to exploring a few facts that you may or may not find elsewhere. I don't have anything to do with the US Border Patrol and never have, so there's not any 'skin in the game' on my part. You'll find that for the most part they are under paid, overworked and are 'abused' by the Washington power structure. The Border Patrol (CBP) handles issues on the US Borders. Once the issue migrates to the interior, it falls under ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Both agencies fall within the US Department of Homeland Security.

This is a plug for the UNOFFICIAL U. S. Border Patrol Blog, posted by the Border Patrol Officer's Labor Union (Local 2544) (READ MORE HERE)

This is what Local 2544 says about themselves: "We are the largest local in the Border Patrol and the largest AFGE local in District 12 (covering Arizona, Hawaii, California, and Nevada). Our voluntary membership rate is over 95% of eligible bargaining unit members in the Tucson Sector. We have over 3,300 dues-paying members in this local. Our members are the real border security experts."

One good example of the difference between the Obama Administration's hype and the reality can be seen here: Throats being cut at "secure border".

Another place where you'll tend to find the truth is at the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officer's website. (READ MORE HERE)

US Customs and Border Protection Corruption?

I have a friend, now retired, who worked for the US Customs Service and handled internal affairs for both US Customs and occasionally was called in to assist internal affairs/OPR at the Border Patrol before they were all folded into the Department of Homeland Security. He told me that one in three US Customs Officers at the US/Mexico ports of entry were on the take from drug cartels. That was about a decade ago and I would be shocked if things changed since then.

There is a general sense among the great unwashed and unenlightened (which would include yours truly) that CBP has more corruption on the US/Mexico Border than they do on Canadian ports of entry. However people are transferred (the corrupt and the honest) and the lack of scrutiny on CBP on the Canadian Border may account in some measure for vast sea of narcotics entering the US from Canada these days.

Polygraph Failure

On Thursday, 11 March 2010, in testimony before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, it was disclosed that the failure rate associated with theCBP pre-employment polygraph screening program stands at 60 percent. New York Times correspondent Randal C. Archibold reports.

Over half of all US Customs Officers who took the polygraph failed. Were they terminated from employment? NO, They just went back to work.

(FOX News) A government watchdog report has identified a dramatic increase in documented corruption cases among U.S. border and immigration agents, finding nearly 150 have been arrested or indicted since 2005.  

In a trend one top lawmaker said puts national security "in jeopardy," the Government Accountability Office tracked the rise in corruption cases among Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The report, issued last month, found spotty standards in screening new applicants and keeping tabs on agents after they're hired. 

"In fiscal year 2011 alone, the DHS Inspector General received almost 900 allegations of corruption from within CBP and ICE," McCaul said.  

McCaul has long asserted the presence of Islamic extremists groups such as Hezbollah -- which has been found to be working in collaboration with Mexican cartels -- coupled with the prospect of a corrupt officer intentionally allowing these individuals into the U.S. could be catastrophic. 

"There is speculation that some applicants may have applied to work for CBP with pre-existing ties to drug cartels facilitating drug trafficking." YOU THINK SO?

With an estimated $40 billion in drugs crossing the U.S.-Mexico border annually, the battle against temptation is daunting. 

PAY for Customs and Border Patrol Agents

New agents are hired at the GL-5, GL-7 or GL-9 level depending on education and experience and are paid at a special salary rate for Federal law enforcement personnel. The base starting salary is GL-5 ($38,619), GL-7 ($43,964), and GL-9 ($49,029) grade levels, with excellent opportunity for overtime pay. (CBP.GOV)

At the princely sum of $3,200 per month, a newly minted Border Patrol Agent can wave one small load of drugs through the port of entry and make more than he makes all YEAR on the job. Corruption? WHY NOT?

Some uninformed people feel that raising the pay and required vetting (now in the works) may improve the situation at CBP. Others feel that the opportunities for corruption are just too vast.

A Holiday Gift from ICE to Mexico!

People in Mexico always tell me, "Juan, ICE is out to get us." I calmly explain to Mexican nationals that nothing could be further from the truth. The US Government desperately wants more Mexicans to move to the United States because everyone who crosses the border can vote for the Democratic Party Candidate of their choice. Citizenship can be a sticky matter, but you don't have to provide proof of citizenship to vote in the US, unlike Mexico where everyone is issued a national identification card, also referred to as a "voting card".

Background: The old Mexican voter ID cards have a photo, signature, and one fingerprint (ink). The new ID cards which began to be issued in 2009 have multiple fingerprints, face photo and iris scans. The information will be stored on a magnetic strip. The old voter ID cards will still be accepted until they are replaced with the new biometrics-based cards.

Additional Commentary: The number of people receiving SNAP (Food Stamps) benefits in the USA is at a record high, reaching $46.6 million as of December 2012, according to the USDA. Many of those people are poor Mexican citizens who have fled poverty in Mexico and have found a bright, new, prosperous existence in the USA without needing to lift a finger to earn it. Those people thank those who read this blog.

President Obama's illegal alien amnesty-by-fiat strategy has been working. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Chief John Morton is doing his part to make it more difficult for local police to detain illegal alien criminal suspects through the 287(g) deportation program. 

The directive (below) states that “three or more convictions for minor traffic misdemeanors or other relatively minor misdemeanors alone should not trigger a detainer unless the convictions reflect a clear and continuing danger to others or disregard for the law.” 

The guidance is a left handed bit of guidance to State and Local Police Officers - don't bother issuing a detainer on illegal aliens detained for crimes in the US -- because the Federal Government won't uphold them.

There is a heavy political cost associated with removing high propensity Democratic Party voters from the country where they can cast their vote irrespective of their status in the country. (What a country!)

What can I say but, VIVA OBAMA!