NTEU - National Treasury Employees Union
07/31/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/31/2024 12:40
CBP Officer Retirement Wave Fast Approaching
WASHINGTON - Customs and Border Protection, already short-staffed at the ports, must dramatically ramp up hiring before the number of officer retirements more than triples in 2028, according to the National Treasury Employees Union.
To prepare for the massive loss of veteran CBP Officers, the agency needs additional resources over the next three years to recruit, hire and train the next generation of federal law enforcement personnel to maintain security at 328 ports of entry across the country and 15 preclearance ports outside the U.S.
"Congress and the agency can take action right now to avoid what could be a catastrophic break down in port operations if thousands of officers retire without anyone to replace them," said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald.
CBP Officers facilitate legitimate trade and travel through the ports while also preventing the entry of terrorists, weapons, counterfeit products, illegal drugs and human traffickers. The agency's workload staffing model shows it is already short 5,850 Officers, even before the retirement wave hits.
A surge in retirements is expected when about 20 percent of all CBP Officers will no longer accrue additional law enforcement retirement benefits because they were hired prior to July 8, 2008, the date LEO status was granted to CBP Officers.
"We've heard from many veteran officers who are planning to turn in their badges four years from now after more than 20 years on the front lines of a demanding and often dangerous job," Greenwald said. "It's up to Congress to make sure CBP has the resources to back-fill those jobs immediately. If not, wait times at border crossings go up and there are fewer trained professionals to inspect suspicious cars, trucks, container ships and international packages."
CBP Commissioner Troy Miller testified about the anticipated retirement cliff earlier this year before the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
"We need to focus on hiring," Miller said. "We need to have a plan where we start hiring in advance of 2028, and in fact over hire in '26 and '27 so we don't have a 400 percent (increase in) attrition rate when 2028 hits us."
Unfortunately, the appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security approved recently by the House only includes funding for 150 new CBP Officers, far short of the call for 1,000 new hires that was in President Biden's October 2023 emergency supplemental request, the president's FY 2025 budget request and the bipartisan border bill that failed to pass due to Republican opposition earlier this year.
The staffing shortage is responsible for longer wait times at the ports for both cargo and passengers, which increases supply-chain costs and delays travelers. The Joint Economic Committee has found that border delays cost the U.S. economy about $5 billion each year. And when CBP reassigns Officers to temporary duty at the Southwest border, their home ports become even more short-staffed.
CBP foresees that at least 2,200 seasoned, experienced employees are expected to retire in 2028 - well above the annual average of 500 -- which would require excessive overtime for those that remain, adding to their workloads and stress levels.
NTEU represents employees at CBP Office of Field Operations and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers where CBP personnel are trained. Greenwald recently told Congress that NTEU would work with FLETC leadership to increase permanent staffing levels at FLETC and expand capacity for new hire training.
NTEU represents employees in 35 federal agencies and offices.