The U.S.-Mexico border fence in Nogales, Ariz.

The U.S.-Mexico border fence in Nogales, Ariz. Yuko Smith photography / Getty Images

DHS Is Deploying More Employees to the Border, and Some Are Growing Tired of It

Some deployments have become mandatory as the administration prepares for an expected uptick in work at the border.

A group of Homeland Security Department workers is imploring the Biden administration, Congress, its agency inspector general and anyone who will listen to no longer require them to go to the southern border to boost resources there amid a record uptick in migrant crossings. 

With the Border Patrol encountering all-time high levels of individuals over the last year, DHS is once again soliciting volunteers throughout the department to supplement personnel along the southwest border. For at least some of those personnel, the requests have turned into mandatory assignments. In response, Federal Air Marshal Service employees are asking the Biden administration to reverse course. 

In an email to staff earlier this week obtained by Government Executive, Tirrell Stevenson, the Transportation Security Administration's executive assistant administrator and FAMS director, said the agency did not receive enough volunteers and it may become “operationally necessary to assign” air marshals from all field offices and headquarters to the border. He noted he had shortened the rotation from 30 to 21 days. 

“I recognize the hardships these deployments can have on personal matters, and have directed Law Enforcement/FAMS supervisors, managers and leadership to take into consideration a range of factors when scheduling individuals for these deployments,” Stevenson wrote. 

Dave Londo, president of the Air Marshals National Council, said he has since been told every FAM will have to accept a deployment and there are currently 150 at the border. Londo called the deployments “reckless,” as it will lead to fewer marshals in the air on flights during the busy holiday season. Employees have bemoaned the decision, he said, noting the job already requires significant time away from family and puts strain on marriages. They have also lamented being sent to conduct what they consider primarily non-law enforcement duties, such as hospital watch, transportation and welfare checks. 

At a hearing this week, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., asked DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas how he could justify the FAMs deployments, saying it was looking to solve the border issue by creating security lapses in air travel. 

“Instead of having just one problem, now we have a few problems thanks to what we are doing to the air marshals,” Van Drew said.

Mayorkas said it was a “fair question” and noted that DHS has requested funding to hire 300 new Border Patrol agents in fiscal 2023. R. Carter Langston, a spokesman for TSA, the agency where FAMs are housed, said the deployments would not create additional security concerns and noted air marshals were previously sent to the border in 2019. 

“We always appreciate the concerns of our workforce and work very hard to address them,” Langston said. “The deployment of Federal Air Marshals to execute DHS’ mission at the southwest border on a reimbursable basis is temporary. At the same time, our expert Federal Air Marshal Service workforce continues their important work in transportation security.”

DHS has several times in recent years turned to its workforce to address swings in migration patterns, as well as other emergencies such as hurricane response and refugee processing. Last year, President Biden tapped the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address a record increase in migrant children at the border. FEMA, Customs and Border Protection, Federal Protective Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other DHS employees deployed through the department's Volunteer Force staffed shelters, provided security and offered other support. The administration subsequently asked for volunteers across government to help an overwhelmed DHS and Health and Human Services Department in processing the children. Under President Trump in 2019, CBP reassigned thousands of customs officers from ports of entry to assist Border Patrol staff during a migration upswing.

Those deployments are only likely to ramp up in the coming weeks. A federal judge this week ruled the Biden administration must end its enforcement of the Title 42 policy, an initiative first launched under President Trump to automatically reject and turn away most migrants arriving at the border to make asylum claims. The policy was implemented ostensibly to prevent the spread of COVID-19, though Republican lawmakers and the Biden administration have been reluctant to support its termination over fears it will create a new pull factor toward an already overwhelmed border. The judge on Wednesday granted the administration's request for a five-week delay to prepare for the expected uptick of migrant arrivals. 

Earlier this year, the Biden administration rolled out a plan for the end of Title 42 that included deploying officers, agents and other staff throughout its workforce to address and process the anticipated increased stream of immigrants. It also suggested it would ask for personnel assistance from other federal agencies. Encounters at the border have remained high despite Title 42 allowing the government to reject migrants seeking asylum—in part because the policy enabled those turned away to quickly make renewed efforts to cross the border—but the administration is expecting the news of the end of the policy will lead to a renewed interest in individuals fleeing violence, unrest and poverty seeking to enter the United States.

Londo, of the National Air Marshals Council, said TSA has not set an end date for the deployments. His association has sent a letter to the DHS IG questioning whether the assignments are legal, suggesting they are a misappropriation of federal funds as Congress did not explicitly authorize them. An IG spokesman declined to comment on the request, though Londo said the office is reviewing whether to probe the matter further. Francine Kerner, TSA’s chief counsel, in response to the council’s contentions pointed to statute authorizing the DHS secretary to delegate any function within the department’s purview to any employee. Mayorkas took the action in recognizing “that the unprecedented volume of undocumented non-citizens apprehended and in custody along the [southwest border] requires further action to protect the life and safety of federal personnel and non-citizens,” Kerner said. 

She acknowledged the deployment could damage morale, but highlighted the shortened assignments and that selections were being made in reverse order of seniority. 

“I assure you that morale among the FAMs workforce is of the utmost importance to leadership and that morale is carefully considered when making operational decisions,” Kerner said.

After publication of this story, Alexa Lopez, a second TSA spokesperson, told Government Executive that the deployed air marshals are performing critical law enforcement duties that would otherwise be performed by law enforcement personnel. 

"The FAMS’ work at the SWB is vital to safeguarding the security of our nation," Lopez said. 

This story has been updated with additional comment from TSA. 

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.