Recently, the National Border Patrol Council was notified of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s intent to implement a recognition program amongst employees.
It is called the “High-Five” program, which is ironic since that is what they wanted to call a watered down retirement program for employees and “is expected to foster a sense of teamwork, help build good morale, and promote employee engagement, and will be made available to all CBP employees. To recognize a colleague’s exemplary efforts, employees can access the “High Five” webpage to select a recognition category, and include a personalized message that will be delivered to the recognized employee by e-mail.”
At this moment of all-time low morale due to pay cuts, curtailment of enforcement operations, and a blatant disregard for the rule of law by the Obama administration, it is shameful how CBP will attempt to pacify its employees, who know the failings of this agency the best, with a meaningless and hollow rewards program. The gold stars handed out in elementary schools have more meaning and value than any kudos brought forth by CBP.
In the spirit of the program, we thought we’d hand out our own “High-Fives.”
- President Obama: Thanks to your non-enforcement of this nation’s immigration laws, especially in the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector, resulting in thousands of families and children over-running the border…with nearly all of them still here.
- Secretary Johnson: High-five for successfully destroying what little morale remained within DHS. You’ve managed to keep us at the bottom of the barrel of job satisfaction amongst all federal agencies.
- Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske: Here’s an award for telling us how you really feel about employees when you said, “If some of these folks are so unhappy, they really need to reassess what they do and where they are.” Your 30+ years of law enforcement experience have really taught you how to inspire your subordinates!
- Chief Michael Fisher: You get a “High-Five” for your math skills. Even when objective measurements show us to be less than 50% effective, your calculations state they we are 78-79% effective with 95% accuracy! In some worlds 1+1 really does equal 4.
Since Secretary Johnson is busy creating programs like “High-Five” and ignoring the real issues, we offer these solutions to strengthening border security and improving employee morale.
Take the leash off of the Border Patrol. Let Border Patrol agents do their jobs and enforce the laws on the books.
Protect those who protect this nation. Implement a zero-tolerance policy for those who assault Border Patrol agents.
Stop sacrificing Americans upon the altar of political correctness. American demand secure borders and the removal of those who break our immigration laws. End the Priority Enforcement Program and sanctuary city policies.
Stop scape-goating Border Patrol agents to appease special interest groups. The U.S. Border Patrol is a model law enforcement agency that uses force only when needed and that serves both this nation and the communities in which our agents work. Supporting the narrative espoused by pro-illegal immigration groups negates the good work done by agents.
We look forward to a time when DHS and CBP will take border security seriously and work with the agents standing watch on the front lines. Our agents don’t need an e-mail from a manufactured program to reinforce their worth, the thanks of a grateful nation and support of fellow agents on the border will suffice. Let us know when you’re ready to talk about real issues and problems, until then you can keep your trinkets and gold-stars.
