Thread: Border Patrol hit by wave of retiring

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... hiefs.html

Border Patrol hit by wave of retiring

By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 1, 2007

Half a dozen Border Patrol sector chiefs, including four in the Southwest, have announced their retirement this year.

Three weeks ago, San Diego chief patrol agent Darryl Griffen returned from six months in Washington, D.C., to announce that he would retire in early May. The following week, Carl McClafferty, chief patrol agent of the El Centro sector, announced he would leave in late spring or early summer.

The two California sector chiefs join a growing roster who plan to retire this year or have already done so, according to the agency. Michael Nicley, the sector chief in Tucson, will step down in March; Lynne Underdown, who heads the agency's McAllen, Texas, sector, will leave this spring.

In Miami, chief patrol agent Paul Blocker has announced plans to leave this year. Grand Forks, N.D., sector chief Glen Schroeder retired earlier this year. In addition, Yuma sector chief Ron Colburn will leave his post to replace Kevin Stevens, deputy chief of the Border Patrol in Washington, D.C., when Stevens retires in June.

The departures stem from personal decisions, said Todd Fraser, a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington, D.C.

“They have reached this peak in their careers, and they are going out on top,” Fraser said.

Mandatory retirement age in the Border Patrol is 57, Fraser said, but those over 50 with 20 years' service – or under 50 with 25 years' service – also are eligible to retire.

Schroeder had reached the mandatory age, and McClafferty will reach it next year. But the other departing chiefs, including San Diego's Griffen, 50, are retiring earlier than is required. Griffen was unavailable to comment, a spokesman said.

The departures have prompted union officials and some former agents to speculate about why so many sector leaders are leaving. One recently retired deputy sector chief complained about increasing micromanagement and bureaucracy since the agency was folded, along with other immigration and law enforcement agencies, into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

“It's very stressful being a supervisor out in the field now,” said Edward Duda, 55, who retired almost a year ago as deputy chief patrol agent of the Buffalo, N.Y., sector. “The guys and ladies out there are not in a position where they could make the calls like they did before. There are so many layers now. You're not worried about quick reaction to a situation, you're worried about paperwork now.”

Increasing centralization since the birth of Homeland Security has been a sore spot for union officials. They say the agency lost much of its autonomy, causing morale to sag. Among other things, they say, the Border Patrol has since ceded control of its air and marine division to Customs and Border Enforcement, which oversees the Border Patrol and customs and ports of entry.

“This whole DHS thing is not what we were told it was going to be,” said Chris Bauder, president of Local 1613 of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents San Diego agents. “For some of them it could have been, 'That is it, I give up.' I don't know why we even have sector chiefs, they're not allowed to do anything.”

Fraser said he could not speak for the chiefs' decisions but that “these are just personal decisions.”

The departures are partly coincidental, said T.J. Bonner, national president of the union. Large numbers of baby boomers are expected to retire from the federal government in the coming decade, and this includes management.

Bonner acknowledged that so many retirements at once is unusual, and that morale is an issue. But he doesn't see it as a sole reason for the departures.

The Border Patrol has 20 sectors nationwide, including in Puerto Rico. Nine span the Southwest border.

“It's very stressful being a supervisor out in the field now,” said Edward Duda, 55, who retired almost a year ago as deputy chief patrol agent of the Buffalo, N.Y., sector. “The guys and ladies out there are not in a position where they could make the calls like they did before. There are so many layers now. You're not worried about quick reaction to a situation, you're worried about paperwork now.”

That is pathetic!!!! How dare our government make them feel that they can not defend the border. I am not surprised that they are leaving their jobs. They do not want to end up like those two poor Border Agents that are rotting in jail.

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If your men were being sent to jail for doing their jobs, you would be retiring to. the problem is that people will be selected who believe in open borders, etc. What a mess our federal government is.

Originally Posted by Beckyal

If your men were being sent to jail for doing their jobs, you would be retiring to. the problem is that people will be selected who believe in open borders, etc. What a mess our federal government is.

This is exactly what will happen, they want people that will ignore the people coming across our borders. WE NEED TO DEMAND CHERTOFF RETIRE ALSO!! We should add it to our e-mails and faxes. a simple note at the bottom would do. (FIRE CHERTOFF FOR INCOMPETENCE!!)

it is a very frustrating fight. we need to find a way to make it ok to publicly state if you defy our laws by breaking into our country you are a CRIMINAL ALIEN. the open borders people have to squash patriots first amendment rights by not allowing us to be able to verbalize what is legal and what is not.

SOSADFORUS wrote:

This is exactly what will happen, they want people that will ignore the people coming across our borders. WE NEED TO DEMAND CHERTOFF RETIRE ALSO!! We should add it to our e-mails and faxes. a simple note at the bottom would do. (FIRE CHERTOFF FOR INCOMPETENCE!!)

Yes , we need the heat on and refuse to close our eyes to injustice. The more the government ignores us, the louder the volume needs to go up until the roar of our voices echo through the halls of the white house!
We are millions of Americans we must not forget that. We must remember that WE are our only hope. It is up to us to turn this around.

I smell a rat!!!! Sounds exacly like a company buyout doesn't it? They want to get rid of people who know too much by making their lives miserable. It is easier to get new people in the door because they are too stupid to know any better, and will conform to the new policy. I'd say that the powers that be aren't taking kindly to all of the truth leaking out to the public. Too late...we already know.

I think they are sick about having to sit back and watch the men that work for them go to jail for doing their Job. How would you like to dream about that at night!!

I think all guards should refuse to guard the white house and the halls of congress, why not the rest of us aren't being protected, and take the fence down to, the miserable no good pieces of dirt bags