Tester bill aims at reforming Border Patrol pay

The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved a ground-breaking bill on June 25 to reform the 40-year-old Border Patrol Agent pay system.

The bipartisan Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act, co-sponsored by Sens. Jon Tester, Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Heidi Heikamp, D-N.D, is intended to provide agents with more reliable pay and work schedules while enhancing border security and saving the government up to $70 million a year. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced identical legislation in the House.

An arm of the Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol employs more than 21,000 agents. Representatives from the National Border Patrol Council supported the measure at a committee hearing earlier this month.

“We are probably the first labor organization to come before this Committee asking for a pay cut,” council president Brandon Judd said. “My agents are asking you to do this because ensuring proper manpower, stability and safety are worth the trade.”

Tester introduced the bill last November after a government report described how some agents were improperly compensated when they worked beyond normal business hours, such as law enforcement officers responding to criminal activity.

“The need for a modern pay schedule that provides stability for agents and their families is something I hear about every time I visit the border,” Tester said. “Establishing a new pay schedule will get more agents on the borders and make our nation more secure while actually saving taxpayers money. It’s a win across the board.”

The 545-mile long border between U.S. and Canada includes rugged terrain in Lincoln County, the North Fork, Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. An office is maintained in Whitefish, and agents routinely patrol the North Fork.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials testified that the new pay system would provide additional manpower in the field to address security threats along the border. And in states like Montana, where agents must often travel long distances to assigned locations in frontier or rugged areas along the border, the legislation would reduce gaps in security between shifts.

“Border Patrol Agents like me strongly back this legislation because it bolsters efforts to secure the border, and it ensures we have a pay system that it is more reflective of our work and offers more predictable hours and paychecks for us and our families,” said Jonathan Perkins, an agent in Sweet Grass.