Arizona‘s two Democratic senators are backing a bill to boost pay for overworked Border Patrol agents, an effort to distance themselves from the Biden administration’s handling of the migration crisis.
Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly, along with Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and James Lankford of Oklahoma, released a bill late Thursday that would give the country’s 19,500 federal law enforcement agents within the Border Patrol overtime compensation that other federal police agencies already have.
The Border Patrol Pay Security Act would rewrite the Fair Labor Standards Act so they earn one-and-a-half times their normal pay when they work between 80 and 100 hours in a 14-day period.
“As we continue to deal with the crisis at our southern border, our legislation will improve border security by boosting the U.S. Border Patrol’s continued efforts to hire and retain talented agents,” said Kelly, who was elected in 2020, in a statement.
Sinema said fixing the pay issue will help the Border Patrol’s parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, recruit and retain those in its ranks.
“We’ll continue working across the aisle to support our Border Patrol and keep Arizona families and communities safe and secure,” said Sinema, chairwoman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Border Management.
The bill could help the two Arizonans avoid some of the political damage Democrats have suffered because of the Biden administration’s management of the southern border. Polls show voters strongly disapprove of President Joe Biden’s handling of immigration, a major factor contributing to his overall poor approval ratings. Kelly faces reelection in 2022 and is thought to be one of the most vulnerable senators.
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Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, endorsed the bill.
“The investments in fencing, drones, and sensors are important; however, without highly motivated Border Patrol Agents to track and apprehend illegal immigrants and drug smugglers none of these other investments matter. Right now, Border Patrol does not have pay parity with our sister agencies in the federal government,” Judd said. “This legislation will restore that parity we lost during the Obama administration and help us to recruit and retain the best of America in our ranks.”
In 2019, the Trump administration implemented a first-of-its-kind financial incentive with the hope it would help the Border Patrol retain agents following years in which more employees left than were hired. CBP rewarded rank-and-file agents and supervisors who enrolled in the program with quarterly payments totaling 5% of their base salary. Agents were required to sign a contract to stay with Border Patrol for the next year.
Agents and supervisors were dealt a 5% overtime pay cut during the Obama administration.
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The patrol hit an all-time high of 22,444 agents in 2011 but is now down to 19,555 as of the end of fiscal year 2018. Former President Donald Trump took executive action in January 2021 and ordered 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents be hired. That order went unfulfilled by Congress.
