Thread: News from Border Patrol....Local 2544

http://www.local2544.org/

U.S. BORDER PATROL
Local 2544
Tucson, Arizona

Toll Free (800) 581-2544
Fax (520) 293-6044

All Rights Reserved

Welcome. Local 2544 officers are all Border Patrol agents. We represent other Border Patrol agents and non-supervisory employees in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, covering most of the state of Arizona. We are the largest local in the Border Patrol.

Local 2544 is proudly affiliated with the Legal Defense Fund, and the law firm of Gattey Baranic LLP. These organizations support our members in administrative, legislative, civil, and criminal matters. Local 2544 was the first local in the nation to offer its members an Administrative Legal Plan utilizing attorneys to represent members in disciplinary actions, grievances and ULP charges. Our attorneys also assist in other types of representation not covered under the Legal Defense Fund plan.

We fully support legal immigration, but we stand firmly against illegal immigration. We strongly oppose any attempts to reward illegal alien lawbreakers. We have risked our lives to keep them out of this country. Some politicians can call it "guest-worker" or "earned legalization" all they want, but it's amnesty.

Next Meeting: October 11, 2006 @ 6 p.m.

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President Bush, read our lips, NO AMNESTY! Your continuous defeatist rhetoric about "we just can't deport 12 million people" got old about a year ago. Repeating it ad nauseam doesn't make it any more truthful. Secure the border, cut off the jobs and free government handouts, start hammering greedy employers who hire illegal aliens, and watch them make a run for the border.....heading south by the millions. Many of them will "self-deport". If you had this same defeatist attitude about Iraq, Saddam Hussein would still be in power. We're not buying your amnesty sales pitch down here in the real world. Maybe you can explain to us why we're risking our lives to stop the same people you keep encouraging to come in by the millions with your incessant pro-amnesty speeches ("guest-worker", "earned legalization", etc.)

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"Terrorism is the preferred weapon of weak and evil men." President Ronald Wilson Reagan


09-11-01 - Never Forget What The Cowards Did to Us


To help establish a memorial for the American heroes who stopped the barbaric terrorists on United Flight 93 click here.

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Yuma BP Local - 08-16-06 The BP Local in Yuma is experiencing some extreme difficulties caused by their Sector management. Their management has chosen to severely restrict any "official time" for Local 2595 officers, in a blatant and illegal attempt to cripple their activities and keep them from doing the job they were elected to do. The Union just took them to arbitration for their routine and irrational denials of official time for Union officers. The arbitrator sustained the Union's grievance and ordered them into negotiations. Their response to that order? They now refuse to give the Local President any official time to formulate his proposals for the negotiations. Brilliant strategy Yuma managers! That will fix it! In response to this longstanding problem, Local 2544 and the NBPC will begin assisting the Yuma Local in certain areas. More to follow.

Border Patrol Agents Railroaded by OIG & U.S. Attorney - 08-06-06 Agents: If you think the Federal government won't go after you with everything they have for doing your job, you need to read this story. As we all know, it's usually the hardest working agents who get into the most "trouble". Ms. Kanof, the AUSA who went after these two agents said this, in support of her case: "It is a violation of Border Patrol regulations to go after someone who is fleeing" and "The Border Patrol pursuit policy prohibits the pursuit of someone." Yes, Ms. Kanof, that's why we refer to it as the "Border Patrol Non-Pursuit Policy". Any smuggler worth his salt knows that he should run like hell when he sees the red and blue lights come on, and that we generally aren't supposed to chase him. OIG, the AUSA, and some local agencies have no higher glory than going after a Border Patrol agent. These two agents obviously made a few mistakes (not reporting that you fired your weapon is usually a 5-day suspension), but twenty years in prison? Read the entire story here. This reporter has done some outstanding stories over the last several years and she isn't afraid to work for a living. Update: 08-12-06 The U.S. Attorney's office and the OIG should be thoroughly investigated for their conduct throughout this disgraceful ordeal. The smuggler has reportedly been busted again, with another load of drugs (we have not independently verified this), the AUSA (Kanof) has reportedly said that the agents "turned on one of their own", which we assume to mean that since the agents are "hispanic", illegal aliens and drug smugglers who are also hispanic are "one of their own". The agents are both proud American citizens, and the drug smuggler is a low-life who happens to be from Mexico. How is it that the smuggler is "one of their own"? Kanof should be thoroughly investigated, and if she made this unprofessional, racist statement she should be fired. Lou Dobbs from CNN is all over this story, and he has aired segments on it each of the last three nights. Most damning to the conduct of the U.S. Attorney's office is the fact that they refuse to be interviewed. If they are so proud of what they did to these two agents and their families they should get out from under their desks and answer the hard questions. This is the same U.S. Attorney's office that won't prosecute smuggling cases that don't meet their ridiculous "threshold" requirements, which results in smuggler after smuggler being caught and released (both drug smugglers and illegal alien smugglers). Lou Dobbs' web site is here. Update: 08-13-06 A petition has been started to pardon these two agents. Americans have no idea how these types of situations crush the morale of hard working rank-and-file agents trying to police this nation's borders. Border Patrol agents are human, and any split-second decision we are forced to make under duress is scrutinized by layer after layer of second-guessing managers, investigators, prosecutors, and outside agencies. These two agents should be looking at an administrative suspension, and instead they're facing 20 years in prison. This is an outrage. Please click here to sign the petition.

Bid-for-Shift Hearing - 06-21-06 The hearing regarding management's unilateral abolishment of our bid-for-shift system will take place on June 29th. The bid-for-shift was working well and everybody was happy, so naturally, it had to be changed. The year-old mandatory shift rotation has been a huge success. It has succeeded in drastically lowering overall morale, increasing health risks to agents, and making family life even harder for the backbone of this organization, the men and women working the front lines. Management is throwing everything they have at this hearing in an attempt at preventing the Union or the agents from having a voice in this matter. The bottom line is this, your health and well-being suffer when you are routinely forced to rotate shifts. You're basically taking years off your life. Life expectancies for retired Border Patrol agents are pathetic. Clinical studies have documented the ill effects of rotating shifts, including the increased on-the-job danger to employees because they are tired much of the time. The studies were presented to management long ago. They acknowledged the studies, admitted they were accurate, and basically said they didn't care ("tradition" is more important than progress). We will continue to fight this battle until we have exhausted every option available to us. In a worst-case scenario we can only hope that even if we lose this one at hearing, we will get a new regime in about a year who will work with us on this issue. We have given up trying to convince the current regime that they are hurting agents, hurting agents' families, and killing morale for absolutely no good reason. It's a lost cause until we get a favorable ruling from an arbitrator in 3 or 4 months, or a new regime in a year or so. This is one issue that David Aguilar got absolutely right when he was the CPA here (although we received word from various reliable sources at HQ that he now has backed off his stance, for obvious political reasons). Update: 07-07-06 The arbitrator who was supposed to hear this case did not show up for the hearing. It is being re-scheduled. He had marked it down for the wrong month and didn't realize his mistake until the day of the hearing after all the parties had arrived at the hearing location. Update: 07-11-06 The hearing is now scheduled for August 10th and 11th. Update: 08-12-06 The Agency settled at the hearing. The Union got everything we were looking for in the settlement. Management will go back to the negotiating table to complete negotiations. We are currently working on our proposals. It was agreed that we would have a few days of meetings, followed by the use of a mediator if we can't reach agreement, and ultimately the use of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) if necessary to resolve the dispute. Contrary to what some are saying, there was NO agreement from the Union that "shift rotation" will remain in its current form. We agreed that we would remain on the current shift rotation until negotiations are completed, with strict timelines placed into the agreement to keep management from intentionally dragging out the process. In other words, we dropped a demand to return to bid-for-shift while negotiations are taking place (a remedy called "status quo ante" that we likely would not have gotten anyway, even if we went through with the hearing and waited months on a decision from the arbitrator).

Arizona Police Association (APA) - 07-30-06 The Arizona Police Association consisted of approximately 7,000 members. About 2,000 of those members were Border Patrol agents in Arizona. The APA has decided, against our wishes, to endorse Gabrielle Giffords in the Dist. 8 congressional race to replace the retiring Jim Kolbe. The APA has also decided to endorse Janet Napolitano for governor. In response to this, and other matters, we are announcing that Border Patrol agents in Arizona will be breaking away from the APA, effective immediately. We will endorse our own candidates, i.e., candidates who best represent our professional interests and who will work to secure the nation's borders properly for all Americans. We believe there is not a more important issue facing the American voters this year than securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws in the interior of the country. The bulk of APA's members are Phoenix area police departments. The only members they have in southern Arizona (congressional District are Border Patrol agents and a few Highway Patrol officers. In light of the fact that Giffords won't actually represent any of the officers in the Phoenix area, it is especially disturbing that the APA would disregard our input and endorse Giffords. Giffords is pro-amnesty for illegal aliens, something that we strongly disagree with. Her approach to "solving" the illegal alien crisis simply will not work. It's basically a repeat of the disastrous 1986 amnesty (IRCA 1986), which only served to get us to the sad state of affairs in which we currently find ourselves. For the APA to endorse a candidate who will almost exclusively represent us (Border Patrol agents) in our part of the state, and one who does not represent our best interests, is untenable at this point. We are the ones enforcing the immigration laws and we are the ones who have been dealing with the problem first hand for years. Giffords seeks to reward the same people we are currently risking our lives to stop. Giffords has been an Arizona state lawmaker with unknown ties to other members of the APA. The APA was approached about endorsing Senator Kyl and failed to return our phone calls. Our attempts to start a dialogue over the Giffords' endorsement was largely ignored as well. We will explore the formation of another statewide police organization, or we will explore joining another statewide police organization that better represents our interests (both in protecting our employment rights and working with us to secure this nation's borders). Lastly, the President of Local 2544 has resigned his position as a Director of the APA, effective today. Update: 08-09-06 "I'm Gabrielle Giffords. I approve this message....." The APA-endorsed candidate, Giffords, is running a TV spot that is untruthful. If CD-8 voters want this type of "leadership" in DC they should start a write-in campaign to keep Jim Kolbe. He's a master at taking credit for things when he deserves no credit. Read an article on the Giffords' debacle here.

A Leave Restriction Story - A Tucson Sector agent was hurt on duty a few years ago. He advised the Agency in 2004 that they were not creditng him 8 hours of annual leave per pay period (as they should have been, given his 15 years of Federal service). The Agency acknowledged their mistake and said they would fix it. They didn't. In May of 2006 the Local filed a Step I grievance. The Agency refused to respond. In June of 2006 the Local filed a Step II grievance. The Agency refused to respond. The Local has now filed a Step III grievance (the Agency has been ignoring those as well lately under the fine national leadership of David V. Aguilar). In addition, there have been phone calls made and attempts to follow up informally. Nothing has produced any results. The agent now has nearly 20 years of service, and they still haven't credited him with his annual leave. They owe him over 160 hours of annual leave......and here is the kicker - The Agency has placed the agent on leave restriction, because he has "failed to maintain 40 hours of leave". This, when they owe him over 160 hours of leave but won't get off their cans to correct their mistake (we believe 2 years is long enough to correct such a mistake, even in Federal government time). Meanwhile the agent continues to have to deal with his medical condition caused by the on-duty injury and he needs the leave. 08-08-06

Rubber Gun Squad - Tucson Sector currently has approximately 44 agents assigned to the "rubber gun squad". These are agents who have had their badges, credentials, and firearms taken away by the Chief Patrol Agent (CPA) in accordance with the Firearms Policy (the Union doesn't have much recourse when the CPA does this). Many of these agents have been in this status for prolonged periods, with most just waiting to be cleared of bogus allegations. Some have been in this status for over a year. These are fully capable, veteran agents who want to go back on patrol. Instead, they are forced to do administrative type duties while their investigations drag on, and on, and on. The snail's pace with which these investigations are carried out needs to be srutinized very closely by someone who is touting his "badges on the border" slogan. Even worse than being forced to perform administrative duties when they want to be out on patrol, is the fact that these agents' careers are put on hold. No promotions, no transfers, no jobs with another agency. One agent had accepted a job with another agency and was at his going-away party when he was told that the other agency had pulled his job offer because he was "under investigation". These are 44 agents who want to be part of the "badges at the border" campaign, but are being held up by the very agency that says they so desperately need them. In short, we have been watching this for a long time and we are out of options in getting something done. Every time we make an inquiry, which is at least weekly, we are told the agents are "still under investigation". 08-06-06

National Guard (NG) - 06-08-06 Local 2544 has not been consulted in any way, shape, or form regarding the deployment of NG troops in this Sector. This is being posted in response to multiple questions about our involvement in this process. We were told we would be consulted. We weren't (they lied to us....again). Update: 08-05-06 Reports we are receiving from agents indicate that the NG is tying up BP resources, including agents who are sent to "protect" them while they work near the border (reports out of Naco and Douglas indicate that about 10% of on-duty agents are assigned to "guard" the NG). We also have agents complaining that their unmarked Border Patrol vehicles are being taken away from them and given to the NG. We know the NG is fully capable of protecting themselves, but our government is going overboard to make sure that the NG has absolutely no contact with illegal aliens, regardless of the circumstances. Speaking of "militarizing" the border, there have been reports of unarmed NG soldiers watching ARMED Mexican soldiers make intrusions into the United States. This is the problem with a President more interested in appeasing the radical pro-illegal immigration groups than securing this country. The rosy picture painted by David Aguilar in this press conference is misleading. We fully support the fine men and women of the NG, and this is no reflection on their capabilities or their dedication. They do what they're told, just like we do.

Pictures of the Week - Here are some "amnesty" supporters who marched in the San Diego pro-amnesty parade. Americans need to wake up and realize that it isn't just about "amnesty" for a lot of these people, it's about "re-taking" land that they erroneously think belongs to them. The Brown Berets are a band of bullies who advocate taking American land by force (note the two rifles on their banner). They think there really is a nation called "Aztlan", and that they somehow own it (and Barney is a "real" dinosaur). Ridiculous? Absolutely. Dangerous? Very. It's amazing that more politicians are not publicly and forcefully denouncing these reprehensible, racist hate groups. The Brown Berets recently harassed Maria Shriver to the point that she was forced to leave a non-political visit in California promoting food stamps. Time for some politicians to stop hiding under their desks and confront this radical ideology. America wasn't built by cowards (example: George Washington was renowned for often placing himself between his troops and the British, not for hiding under a desk). Perhaps reading about him will inspire some of our current crop of "leaders". 08-05-06





Institute for Creative Entertainment (ICE) - An example of government "agents" allegedly living in a fantasy world at taxpayer expense while America gets overrun. We wonder how they obtained permission from the government to take on this "outside employment" while allegedly using sick leave days (they look fairly healthy in the pictures). Click the link here and scroll down to read the story. 08-04-06

EXCLUSIVE: ICE Fraud--Top Immigration Agents Took Tax-Paid Sick Days to ACT in "Miami Vice"
By Debbie Schlussel

****UPDATE, 08/04/06: Please see correction and addition to this story, here.****

Want to act in movies and get paid to do it? You could go to Hollywood, and struggle as a waiter/actor.

OR . . . you could become an ICE agent--and get taxpayers to pay for your acting-career-in-development, instead.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were allowed to take paid sick days to act and do stunt work in "Miami Vice," the hit (but terrible) movie that is currently #1 at the box office. Yup, your tax dollars--meant for immigration enforcement--subsidized the making of the "Miami Vice." (My review of the horrid "Miami Vice" movie here. Info about its anti-Israel cheap shot here.)

Blame Jesus Torres--Miami Special Agent in Charge for Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE)--and his ultimate boss ICE chieftess Julie L. Myers a/k/a "The ICE Princess." The fish rots from the head down.

Incredibly, Torres allowed high-ranking ICE agents to take paid "sick days" (paid for by U.S. taxpayers) while they simultaneously worked as actors and stuntmen on the set of "Miami Vice," sources familiar with the situation told us. Torres' agents were fraudulently paid for being sick, when they were actually developing their acting chops with Farrell and Foxx. The sources say Torres--who also worked on the film, though he is conspicuously not listed in the credits--may, himself, have collected sick pay while he worked it with "Crockett and Tubbs."

A look at the full "Miami Vice" credits confirms that at least two high-ranking ICE agents who work for Torres are in the movie:

* Alexander Alonso is listed as a stuntman. Sources say Alonso is Torres' Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Miami ICE office. Alonzo even provided his photo to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB). (Sources say IMDB charges for posting photos and that only serious actors provide them.)

As a "punishment," ICE Director of Investigations Marcy-Forman-Friedman a/k/a "Peppermint Patty" sent Alonso to temporary duty in Madrid, Spain, where he currently is--courtesy of the taxpayers. That's "punishment" for fraud? Please, Peppermint Patty, "punish" us, too. The guy should be serving time for fraud.


Senior ICE Agents Alexander Alonso & Lorenzo Toledo:
You Paid for Them to Act in "Miami Vice"
* Lorenzo Toledo is also listed as a stuntman. Sources say he is a Group Supervisor of agents at the Miami ICE office, just one step below Assistant Special Agent in Charge. He, too, provided IMDB with his mugshot. And, we note, he is also in "The Kings of South Beach," a 2007 TV movie starring former New Kids on the Block'er Donnie Wahlberg. He plays a police sergeant in that one. Did taxpayers give him paid "sick days" (a/k/a fraud) for that acting gig, too?

Already aired is a making-of-"Miami Vice" documentary on HBO, "HBO First Look: Miami Vice." Both Alonso and Toledo are in it, we're told. Sources also say that other ICE agents also worked for pay on "Miami Vice," with the same fraudulent sick pay arrangement through ICE.

Monday, we told you about how Jesus Torres showed "Miami Vice" stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx classified undercover drug operations and provided them with confidential methods and techniques used in drug buys. All of this made it into the hit (but terrible) movie, jeopardizing undercover agents and law enforcement drug operations and lives.

That was bad enough. Now this.

We reported that ICE's Forman-Friedman temporarily suspended Torres. But we've since learned his "suspension" was a temporary assignment in Texas for a few days or so. He whined, and got back to his top ICE job in Miami. This is the "punishment" for committing fraud on American taxpayers with immigration enforcement money . . . for a Hollywood movie?

This sick day scam is fraud . . . and it's criminal. Or should be.

$30-$50K Tommy Lasorda speeches at ICE confabs; sick days for ICE agents while they work on "Miami Vice." We're wondering what's next under "The ICE Princess" Julie Myers as she fritters away tax money meant for immigration enforcement. Perhaps a private Aerosmith concert for The ICE Princess and her peeps at the ICE Palace on "Eye" Street, before she goes on partially tax-paid preggers leave.

We hear Stephen Tyler is looking for extra income, now that the gazillionth divorce and alimony payments are in the works. And since all illegal aliens have been captured and deported already, there's plenty of tax money to spend on these things.

Posted by Debbie at 10:43 AM | TrackBack (0)

I just sent an email of support to the border patrol agents