Everyone Quits – Biden Triggers Mass Resignations

Since Dem candidate Joe Biden defeated Republican incumbent Trump in the 2020 presidential election, the U.S. Border Patrol has lost about 25% of its manpower, and some agents claim this is no coincidence.

Since October 2020, about 4,000 federal agents have departed from the Border Patrol. The number of agents opting for early retirement has doubled compared to the retirement rates in the Obama and Trump administrations.

Although U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released new statistics confirming a considerably higher number of agents are opting to quit than usual, Border Patrol agents have bemoaned in recent years that Biden’s immigration policy has created a crisis that has lowered morale.

An unidentified senior Border Patrol official expressed concerns about the administration’s negative impact on morale, saying, “It is terrible.” “I am not attempting to take sides. I am merely stating the obvious. It has gotten really political. Agents find it demoralizing to catch and release.

Former Border Patrol second-in-command Matthew Hudak remarked that rather than holding or expelling illegal immigrants, many agents’ work was becoming monotonous and akin to Groundhog Day: they would arrest them and then let them back into the country. According to Hudak, it is dehumanizing for the federal law enforcement officers who swore allegiance to the nation.

But the Border Patrol’s losses are more than just a result of the political climate. While federal agents are leaving their employment early to earn far more money in the private sector, police groups around the country have struggled to recruit and retain personnel.

There are more than 19,000 agents in the Border Patrol. Precisely 4,281 federal law enforcement officials left the agency between October 2020 and April 2024.

In all, there were three types of Border Patrol officers who left: those who resigned, those who had to retire because of age or service length, and those who decided to retire as soon as they were qualified.

On the other hand, the organization lost 996 agents on average annually in the seven years preceding the fall of 2020, when Biden became victorious in the race.

There were 3,665 agents who left during fiscal years 2021 and 2023, or 1,222 annually on average. In the first seven months of fiscal 2024, which spans from October 2023 to September 2024, an additional 616 agents have departed.

Over the past ten years, the number of agents who have opted to leave the Border Patrol or accepted employment elsewhere has stayed consistent, ranging from 600 to 900 per year.

Retirements showed the largest shift in the reasons for agents’ departures. Under Biden, early retirements have increased dramatically, despite the fact that required retirements have stayed below 100 a year.

The average annual number of early retirements from 2014 to 2020 was 257. That number has more than doubled to around 529 agents since 2021 who made the decision to quit as soon as they were eligible.

Although the number of agents opting to retire early has doubled, CBP insisted that its attrition rate has remained stable at 4% to 6% and that the retirements have not significantly affected the workforce’s overall attrition rates.

In interviews with the Washington Examiner, some have bemoaned the fact that the occupations they signed up for twenty years ago did not reflect their current responsibilities and that they are afraid to perform their tasks because of the political environment.

Since 2021, Border Patrol agents in senior and rank-and-file positions around the southern border have repeatedly informed the Washington Examiner that morale was either completely disappearing or was at an all-time low.

In an earlier interview, an agent based in Arizona stated, “Under Biden, things are even worse than they have ever been by far.” “We get calls from agents all the time. When it comes to performing our jobs, you often hear comments like “It does not matter” or “What is the point?” Agents worry that completing their jobs will get them in trouble or on the news. There is no spirit left.