Some U.S. Border Patrol agents blame President Joe Biden for the agency losing nearly a quarter of its workforce since the 2020 presidential election, the Washington Examiner reported.
The Border Patrol, which is comprised of more than 19,000 agents, lost 4,281 federal law enforcement agents who left the agency between October 2020 and April 2024. Biden won the White House in November 2020.
That number includes agents who quit, were forced to retire due to their age or number of years on the job, or who chose to retire as soon as they became eligible, the Examiner reported. Early retirements have soared under Biden.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows many more agents are choosing to leave than normal. For example, twice as many agents have chosen to retire early compared to retirement rates during the Obama and Trump administrations.
In the seven years leading up to fall 2020, the agency lost an average of 996 agents annually.
"The [Biden] administration is so bad for morale," one senior Border Patrol official told the Examiner. "I'm not trying to be political. I'm just speaking facts. It's become so political. Catch and release is demoralizing for agents."
Matthew Hudak, recently retired second-in-command of Border Patrol, said agents had taken an oath to protect the country have become humiliated by arresting migrants and then releasing them into the U.S.
"Under Biden, things are the worst they have ever been by far," one agent based in Arizona told the Examiner. "Agents are calling in all the time. You always hear, 'It doesn't matter,' or, 'What's the point?' in reference to doing our job. Agents are afraid of ending up on the news for doing their job or getting in trouble for doing their job. There is no morale."
"Our agency is half Hispanic, so we're not a bunch of raging racists," the senior Border Patrol official told the Examiner. "We just want to enforce the law. What really motivates them is being able to stop bad people and narcotics from coming in."
Dissension in the ranks of CBP was shown in full view in a leaked January 2022 video from a meeting with Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Laredo, Texas.
"You're getting bogged down in the policies and the politics," Ortiz shouted at agents in front of Mayorkas, as they objected to the Biden administration's open border policies, with one saying, "you keep releasing criminal aliens into this country."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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