By Steve Neavling
Border Patrol agents are warning of a mass exodus from the critical federal agency if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the upcoming presidential election.
Multiple agents have expressed frustration with the New York Post over what they describe as years of being undermined and scapegoated under the Biden-Harris administration.
“I’m not doing this s–t again … four years of hell,” one agent, who is not close to retirement, said.
Another agent added, “Lots of guys who can retire will go. If Trump wins, they’ll stay.”
On Monday, the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents, endorsed former President Donald Trump, as tensions within the agency continue to mount.
Insiders say Border Patrol has been suffering from high turnover and plummeting morale since the current administration took office.
Since October 2020, the agency has lost more than 4,000 personnel, leaving approximately 19,000 employees, according to reports from the Washington Examiner. Efforts to address the staffing shortage, such as increasing recruitment incentives from $10,000 to as much as $30,000, and encouraging retired agents to return, have not been sufficient to fill the gap.
Both Trump and Harris have promised to bolster the Border Patrol. On Sunday, Trump announced his plan to expand the force by one-third, or 10,000 new agents, if elected. Despite these promises, several agents, who spoke anonymously due to fear of retaliation from their superiors, believe Harris’s election could plunge the agency into a staffing crisis.
“We will have another exodus just because we will have a bunch of 20-year agents saying peace out,” said one agent, who believes more experienced agents—those with five to ten years of service—will use their skills to pursue other opportunities.
One agent, not yet eligible for retirement, said he is “absolutely sure” he would leave if Harris wins. He cited a lack of support under the current administration, saying, “They’ve done everything they could to make our job as inefficient as possible. They can’t outwardly tell us not to do our job, but when you’re watching criminals come in and get released, it sucks.”
