Border PatrolTrump’s union has long history of discrimination against female Border Patrol agents

By Robert Lee Maril

Published 20 October 2016

The union representing the agents of the U.S. Border Patrol, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), is a direct reflection in many ways of the U.S Border Patrol’s unique institutional history and present culture. That the NBPC leadership endorsed Donald Trump during the primaries is not surprising, nor is NBPC’s continued strong support for Trump to be our next president.As I documented more than a decade ago, the Border Patrol and the NBPC are both run by masculinist and militaristic bureaucracies more self-interested in their own agendas than reflecting the needs of their employees or union membership. NBPC’s endorsement of Trump is nothing less than support from the leadership of a labor union that has always been much too busy with other issues to support their own female Border patrol agents when they are discriminated against and harassed in a hostile work environment.

Author Robert Lee Maril // Source: ecu.edu

The union representing the agents of the U.S. Border Patrol, the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), is a direct reflection in many ways of the U.S Border Patrol’s unique institutional history and present culture. That the NBPC leadership endorsed Donald Trump during the primaries is not surprising, nor is NBPC’s continued strong support for Trump to be our next president. More noteworthy, however, is the NBPC’s lack of support for the equal rights of female Border Patrol agents in general, and its own female union members in particular. As I documented more than a decade ago, the Border Patrol and the NBPC are both run by masculinist and militaristic bureaucracies more self-interested in their own agendas than reflecting the needs of their employees or union membership (Robert Lee Maril, Patrolling Chaos: The U.S. Border Patrol in Deep South Texas, 2004).

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Also by Robert Lee Maril:

“New Border Patrol chief faces uphill battle to reform agency,” HSNW, 13 July 2016

“Major reorganization at CBP: Two new offices created,” HSNW, 2 December 2015

“How many times does CBP’s Mark Borkowski get to fail?” HSNW, 28 September 2015

“More significant CBP leadership changes: Possible reorganization,” HSNW, 10 September 2015

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This is not to say that all U.S. Border Patrol male agents are guilty of these charges; nothing could be further from the truth. There are many, many male agents who support their female counterparts on a daily basis and, along with female Border Patrol agents, daily accomplish their challenging tasks walking the line. However, while I have been documenting in great detail since 1999 the many positive accomplishments of Border Patrol agents, I also have been documenting the harassment of female Border Patrol agents by male Border Patrol agents, including male supervisors and male station management.

For most of its history the NBPC, founded in the late 1960s, has continually failed to support the rights of female agents not only within its membership, but also within the CBP as a whole.  The history of gender discrimination within the NBPC against its own female agents is undeniable.  

While the NBPC asserts on its Web site that it protects and fights for the rights of its membership, over decades the facts demonstrate that the NBPC has continually disregarded the rights of female NBPC membership in the work place along with those female agents in the CBP who chose not to join the union.