Trouble at IMB

I sometimes forget that we work in a field that is often confusing to the general public and those that have not been exposed to law enforcement for very long. For lack of a better term our jobs and our personalities are alien to them. I have always hoped however that all of us who wear the green would be able to look out for one another, not create problems out of nowhere.

For over a decade I have had the distinct privilege of serving at the Imperial Beach Border Patrol Station. Some of the finest Americans I will ever know have made their ways through the doors of this station, along with some of the most demoralizing people I have ever met.

Imperial Beach has undergone some significant changes over the past several years. Much of this has to do with the changes in leadership. For too long the IB station was allowed to languish under the "Do Nothing" regimes of PAICs Arnie Forsyth and Dave Brown. It seemed they were more concerned with counting the days until retirement than with managing their station or checking on morale. The relationship with the union was contentious due to a few Field Operations Supervisors operating on their own and doing all they could to suck the will to work from the troops. While these two PAICs passed through a change was occurring in the amount of alien traffic. Smugglers were realizing that less and less agents were on the line and instead of going to the desert they could push their groups through in IB fairly effectively. But IB management tried what has now proved to be a failing strategy of doing more with less agents.

In 2005 Raleigh Leonard became the PAIC of IB. I have known Raleigh Leonard since I was a trainee since he was my Field Training Officer. I believed he would do many things to improve the work conditions at IB. On that account I turned out to be right...and wrong. PAIC Leonard allowed his agents to work and morale definitely improved. There was open communication between the station management and the union. Problems were solved with a phone call instead of grievances. But alien traffic continued to increase and the assaults on agents were through the roof, all while operating with a near record low amount of agents.

I believe that overall PAIC Leonard did more good than bad for IB. But in 2006 IB took over the area from the ocean to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. I sat in a meeting where PAIC Leonard assured us that, "We will not flex east until we have the manpower to do it." Four weeks later they did it anyway.

I will fast forward to the current situation. Manpower is stretched to the breaking point now and assaults are an everyday occurrence. SRT, BORSTAR, Horse Patrol, and the Air Mobile Unit have been brought in to supplement the line units which have been completely overwhelmed. The outgoing PAIC, Mark Moody, continued the good relationship between the union and management but his hands were tied concerning the manpower issues and the increased operational area.

This brings me to the main point of this post. Recent events have shown that some managers, namely (A) APAIC Mike Apple, are reverting to the old ways of crushing morale through micromanagement, jumping to conclusions which never benefit the line agents, and my favorite of causing more problems for agents by not following policies OR READING THE CONTRACT!

Mike Apple has shown a callous disregard for the union and by extension the membership at IB. He has attempted to violate the rights of union members by denying them representation during the course of an investigation. I know he is only the "Acting" APAIC but he deserves an Oscar for the conviction with which he told me that he, "was looking out for the agents" and "that the agents know he has their back." Several agents I related that to were incapacitated by fits of laughter.

I have tried to explain my actions and my thoughts to (A) APAIC Apple, but my impression from his words and tone is that he does not care. He is going to have the agents do what he wants when he wants it. His people skills are non-existant and my guess is that he is looking to move up the food chain. Unfortunately he is attempting to do that on the backs of the agents and complicit in it are his supervisors who have allowed him to do so. It seems that by his chronic actions the relationship we once had at IB is on life support. I believe it will be up to the new PAIC to continue the working relationship that has existed over the past few years. The union hopes that we can again work together to make the job easier and safer for the agents.

I take no pride in saying that (A) APAIC Mike Apple has exhibited the new agency mantra of "Honor Last."

Jose Olivas - Dishonored

Jose Olivas, former Border Patrol Agent in San Diego Sector, recently plead guilty to one count of conspiring to smuggle aliens and one count of conspiring to launder money. Olivas faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. We hope that Olivas receives the maximum penalty for this despicable act. See the U.S. Attorney's press release.

Olivas was sentenced to only three years in prison for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and money laundering. This traitor provided sensitive reports to the smugglers and he only receives three years? Read a related story.

Carlos Carrillo, Chief Patrol Agent (Laredo Sector) - Honor Last

Carlos X. Carrillo, Chief Patrol Agent for Laredo Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol recently admitted that the Border Patrol is no longer concerned with illegal immigrants. The Union has routinely said this was happening since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. Agency officials repeatedly inform employees that our primary mission is the detection and apprehension of terrorists attempting to enter the United States and that illegal immigration is now at the bottom of our priorities. During his recent visit to the San Diego Sector, Chief Aguilar said that illegal aliens are not the priority of the U.S. Border Patrol. Therefore, although Chief Carrillo may not have been as politically savvy with his explanation, he basically reiterated what has been said by Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection officials since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Although newspapers are reporting confusion among the rank and file since Carrillo made his statements, the fact remains that there has been confusion regarding the mission of the Border Patrol since the Department of Homeland Security was created. This slip by Carrillo further substantiates the Union's vote of "No Confidence" against Chief Aguilar. Read the news article.

Border Patrol Chief Aguilar - Honor Last

Chief David Aguilar is recognized as the leader of the "Honor Last" society for numerous reasons, most of which were cited when the National Border Patrol Council announced the vote of "No Confidence":

Chief Aguilar shamelessly promoted a guest worker program as a means to reduce the flow of traffic at the borders. He had the audacity to stand before Border Patrol Agents and accept legislation that would grant guest worker permits to illegal aliens living in the United States. According to Chief Aguilar, why would we [U.S. citizens] stop comprehensive immigration reform just because it addressed four percent of the current U.S. population [illegal aliens].

Chief Aguilar continues to advance the National Border Patrol Strategy regardless of the failures, which are proven by one simple fact: the number of illegal aliens residing in the United States steadily increased since the strategy was first implemented in 1994. (http://www.desertinvasion.us/data/invasion_numbers.html).

Chief Aguilar continues to promote terrorism as the number one priority of the Border Patrol, while Border Patrol Agents around the country recognize that illegal immigration is still the number one priority and if and when a Border Patrol Agent apprehends a terrorist, that apprehension will be subsequent to apprehending illegal aliens. Chief Aguilar plays the "terrorism" card to unilaterally implement policies that have very little impact on illegal immigration and/or terrorism and to unilaterally abrogate policies that benefit Border Patrol Agents in the field.

Chief Aguilar reduced the authority of Sector Chief Patrol Agents and restricted their ability to negotiate and communicate with local union officials. Chief Aguilar said he did not want a sector Chief to have to deal with Union officials in one local proposing to implement a policy that was negotiated in another local. If a Chief in a sector cannot handle a task this simple than that person should not have been promoted to a Chief Patrol Agent. Ironically, Chief Aguilar provided the Labor Employee Relations (LER) Kingdom unfettered authority over all matters raised by the Union and stripped that authority away from Chief Patrol Agents in the sectors. Since LER officials have never worked as Border Patrol Agents, they have very little understanding of the policies that affect us and very little empathy toward Agents in the field.

Chief Aguilar focuses far too much attention on the quantity of recruits and not enough attention on the quality of new recruits. In his quest to meet the goal to hire all 6,000 new agents, Chief Aguilar is turning a blind-eye to the quality of agents being hired and sent to the sectors from the Academy. Chief Aguilar's efforts in the recruitment area will undoubtedly result in an increase in corruption in the future.

Chief Aguilar has failed miserably in efforts to improve the retention of experienced Border Patrol Agents. He advances policies which negatively impact Border Patrol Agents who work in the field. His efforts in this area will most likely cause further spikes in attrition in the near future.

The above list is not a comprehensive list of the issues that led to the vote of "No Confidence" and his position as the leader of the "Honor Last" society.

Honor Last

This section of our blog will be devoted to exposing individuals in the Border Patrol who appear to have forgotten the Border Patrol motto, which is “Honor First”. Individuals who we cite in this section will typically have one thing in common: they place their desire to earn money before everything and everyone else.

Although we were unable to find any written record pertaining to how “Honor First” became the official Border Patrol motto, one can only assume it was due to Border Patrol leaders in the past who understood the importance of placing honor before everything else, including their careers. Although the term “honor” has many different meanings, we found one definition that appears to match the intended use of the term in the Border Patrol motto:

“Honor (n): honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions: a man of honor” (Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 01, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/honor.)

Unfortunately, far too many Border Patrol officials, who are assigned to management positions in the Border Patrol at this time, have mistakenly decided that their career is more important than honor. They seem to have forgotten that “Honor First” means that they will place honesty, fairness, and integrity first when speaking about the Border Patrol and illegal immigration, when creating or promoting policies like the National Border Patrol Strategy, or when developing internal policies that affect Border Patrol Agents who work in the field.

Instead, these individuals place their career at the top of their priorities and shamefully advocate policies that have very little impact on illegal immigration, but do have a significant negative impact on Border Patrol Agents. They mislead the public, the media, and politicians regarding illegal immigration and border insecurity. They sanction and/or benefited from a promotion due to nepotism, cronyism, and/or the good-ole boy system. Some may quietly retire only to return as a “rehired annuitant”, knowing full-well that the pay they receive as a “rehired annuitant” is far more than they should be receiving for the work they are performing.

To recommend an individual for the "Honor Last" section of the website, please send an email to 1613blog@nbpc1613.org.