Mayorkas touts pay bump, new hiring to besieged Border Patrol agents as new migrant surge looms
Border agents facing between 7-8,000 migrants a day at US-Mexico border
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is touting a pay rise and additional hirings in a memo to Border Patrol agents, amid low morale and fears of a looming migrant surge in the months ahead.
In a memo to Border Patrol agents sent last week, a copy of which was seen by Fox News Digital, Mayorkas praises the work they do, and touts a pay increase that was included in the President’s FY 2023 budget -- as well as the ability to hire new agents.
"This proposed budget includes a well-deserved and long overdue 4.6% increase in pay in calendar year 2023. If enacted, this budget will also enable us to hire an additional 300 Border Patrol agents and 300 Border Patrol Processing Coordinators. Further it will provide $63.2 million for the Border Enforcement Coordination Network and $36.7 million for the Border Patrol’s Common Operating Picture."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"These investments are critical to mission success and are historic for the Border Patrol," Mayorkas says. "I know the budgets alone cannot adequately address all that you need to perform your work. Please know I recognize how challenging you work is and I will continue to fight for you."
Sept. 3, 2021: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas updates reporters on the effort to resettle vulnerable Afghans in the United States, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)
The memo comes at a time when Border Patrol agents have faced a year of monthly migrant encounters above the 150,000 level, with numbers expected to rise in the spring and summer months.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mayorkas sent the March 28 memo just days before the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that it will be lifting the Title 42 public health order -- which has been used to quickly expel more than half of all migrants coming to the southern border in May.
DHS says it is expecting a significant influx of migrants in the months ahead, and is preparing for scenarios of up to 18,000 migrants a day. Mayorkas recently told lawmakers that the border can cope with up to 3,500 a day. It is currently seeing about 7,000.
DHS PUTS OUT CALL FOR EMPLOYEES TO VOLUNTEER AT SOUTHERN BORDER AMID ‘LARGE NUMBERS' OF MIGRANTS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Border Patrol agents have been overwhelmed for months, and those that have spoken to Fox News are pessimistic about the months ahead.
"We are expecting to get wrecked," one Border Patrol agent told Fox News Digital.
"We feel abandoned, we feel frustrated, we’re devastated," National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told Fox News Digital last week. "We know this is going to cause chaos of epic proportions, especially when there is still a pandemic going on."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mayorkas has also been involved in a number of tense exchanges with Border Patrol agents who are unhappy at the Biden administration’s policies at the border.
In one exchange in Yuma, an agent turned his back on Mayorkas after accusing him of not allowing agents to do their jobs, while another said that Yuma was better under President Donald Trump as "everyone was doing their jobs."
"I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that's the reality, and let's see what we can do within that framework," Mayorkas said at the time.
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Mayorkas acknowledged those encounters with agents in his memo.
"In our engagements, I have had the opportunity to hear from you firsthand about the challenges you face and the resources and support you need to meet your mission. I have taken our conversations to heart, including the hard ones," he said.