Border patrol union denounces Chief Aguilar

It is well known by now that morale at DHS is among the lowest in the federal government — partly because of uncertainty about role and position after the consolidation of the department, and partly due to management failures. Today’s story is from the latter category. The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which represents all 11,000 border patrol agents, has denounced agency chief David Aguilar for “intimidation tactics in an effort to undermine the vote of no confidence,” recently planned by the NBPC. (The union’s leadership has already approved the no confidence measure, which expressed anger at the Bush administration’s proposed guest worker policies.) Mainly at issue was Aguilar’s decision to dispatch his deputies to address musters and meet with agents at their place of work. “We all know most agents are not going to tell Aguilar or one of his associates to their face that they don’t support him. He knows that and will use it to full PR advantage.” According to the NBPC, the move is an attempt to intimidate employees and bypass the spirit of collective action. It will not work, says NBCP. Internal policy, the organization claims, shows that “the amount of contempt field agents have for Aguilar far exceeds that shown to any previous manager in the Border Patrol or [Immigration and Naturalization Service] for the last twenty years.”