Border Patrol agents are being given free meals, zero-interest loans, and even free yoga classes in an effort to help them get by as they are working without pay during the partial government shutdown, which is now in its fifth week.
Local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and municipal governments from California to Texas have made available all types of support for Department of Homeland Security personnel to help keep them on the job of protecting the border.
That kind of support from locals may be working. While the Transportation Security Administration has seen an increase in sickouts during the shutdown, border agents so far appear to be staying on the job, even without pay.
“Although I don’t have official agency numbers, it is my understanding that call-outs or sick leave is at or near the same levels as in similar times in years past,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd wrote in an email Monday. “We certainly aren’t experiencing the same level of call-outs as TSA. As far as I’m aware, and again that is without official numbers, we have the same workforce reporting for duty under the shutdown as we regularly do under normal circumstances.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to a request for data. But Warren Walter, a sheriff in Hidalgo County, N.M., told the Washington Examiner during a recent visit to the state he has continued to see Border Patrol agents based out of Lordsburg Station working around his county.
“They’re not taking sick days,” Walter said during a meeting in Lordsburg. “We see ’em going up and down the roads … still working.”
Here is just some of the help border agents are getting in each state.
New Mexico
In southwestern New Mexico, the counties of Grant, Hidalgo, and Luna have teamed up to throw a “Shutdown Shindig” on the campus of Western New Mexico University this Friday. The school is hosting the free event, which will include dinner, dancing, games, and door prizes, according to an invitation.
A much larger county in the state, Dona Ana, has seen an increase in illegal immigrant activities, which has kept border patrol workers busy even though they aren’t being paid. Dona Ana announced Monday it will not terminate water and gas service for agents or other workers even if they cannot make payments when they are due.
The Casa de Peregrinos food pantry is giving out free food to affected workers, and Peace Lutheran Church and Andele Restaurant in Las Cruces, N.M., hosted an Appreciation Dinner Sunday night and gave out food and gift cards to unpaid border workers.
New Mexico Highlands University took a different approach to helping people and offered free admission for its eight-week, two-credit Introduction to Geospatial Technology class. As of Monday, the class had filled up and was no longer accepting students.
Downtown Desert Yoga and Dwellyoga are offering some free classes to border agents. “The reason a lot of people are drawn to yoga is it gives them an opportunity to get out of their head … and let go of some of the worry and doubt they’re experiencing,” Downtown Desert Yoga owner Colleen Boyd told the Las Cruces Sun News.
In New Mexico, nearly 11,000 residents are federal workers from DHS, Interior, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services and have either been furloughed or are working without pay.
The state’s Department of Workforce Solutions announced it would allow agents and other federal workers to apply for unemployment benefits. The state waived the normal requirements of having to search for work in order to get paid. As of Jan. 14, 1,200 had signed up. Workers do have to pay back the state once the shutdown ends, after which they will receive their full pay.
The city of Lordsburg told affected workers to contact the utility city clerk’s office to avoid any interruptions in service or late payment fees. The move is similar to other initiatives border towns are taking to help federal law enforcement.
“The City of Lordsburg provides water, gas, sewer and garbage. They are working with federal agents and agencies to waive any and all late fees and allowing them to make payment arrangements without any type of penalty or disconnect fear,” Hidalgo County Manager Tisha Green said in an email Monday.
New Mexico Gas Company and the Public Service Company of New Mexico have also asked workers to contact them if they are without pay to avoid having their service interrupted.
Texas
Texas has 5,684 DHS employees affected by the shutdown, including Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers.
FirstLight Federal Credit Union in West Texas is offering payment extension programs, free early withdrawals of CDs, and zero percent annual percentage rate emergency loans, according to a news release.
White Sands Federal Credit Union, which has branches near the border in New Mexico and Texas, is allowing federal workers to skip loan payments and is giving nonmembers who refinance their loans a 90-day delay for making the first payment.
El Paso County Commissioner Carl Robinson and Operation HOPE, or Helping Other People Endure, held a food drive for 400 families in El Paso last Thursday.
Operation HOPE says they’re expecting about 400 families this morning and while it was a lot of work in 2 days, they’ll be happy to help families this morning. pic.twitter.com/Zo8UsnY9Pa
— Simon Williams (@SimonKFOX_CBS) January 17, 2019
Arizona
Out west in Arizona, some border town restaurants are offering free meals to alleviate the financial stress on agents.
Waldo’s BBQ in Mesa and Gilbert is giving free meals away on Thursday, while Barrio Cafe in Phoenix, RigaToni’s in Tempe, and Riot Hospitality Group restaurants in Scottsdale are giving free meals to federal workers who bring in their $0 paycheck any day of the week.
California
Justice Brothers U-Pick in Arizona is handing out free bags of citrus fruit, and Dickson Farm in San Diego is handing out a free bag of produce.
On the Arizona-California state border, Imperial County is trying to educate agents and others on the various types of assistance available to them.
The Department of Social Services held a workshop last week to inform federal workers of the food assistance, unemployment benefits, loans, and mortgage help those in the community had made available.
