Congress Authorized Overtime for Agents on ‘Diaper Patrol,’ but Not for Agents at the Border

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The message being conveyed to Border Patrol agents is that their most important job is to care for lawbreakers and smugglers, not to patrol against the cartels and previously deported criminal aliens. The job of “diaper patrol” is being prioritized over the job of protecting Americans from national security concerns. Nowhere is this more evident than in the pay incentives given to agents.

Due to complaints of abuse in the overtime pay system among some agents, Congress passed the Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act (BPAPRA) in 2014. The law abolished standard overtime pay for Border Patrol, and in its place, agents were given three options for their 5-day work days. They could work standard 8-hour shifts and receive base pay only or they could work 9-hour shifts and receive 12.5 percent over base pay, or 25 percent over base pay if they opt for 10-hour shifts. Any time an agent works outside the scheduled shift, i.e. 10 hours, they are not paid for the work, but are given “comp time” instead.

Given the crisis of hundreds of thousands of migrants surrendering at the border while thousands of “runners” get away from them, there is a need for all hands-on deck. Yet, thanks to the supplemental bill passed by Congress in June, agents only receive overtime for working at the processing centers babysitting the illegal aliens, but not for actually patrolling the line.

“As it stands now, we are averaging between 9-15 agents actually on the line … less than 30 percent of our station,” said one line agent in the Rio Grande Valley who spoke with CR on background because he is not authorized to speak to the media. “Because of the recent influx, overtime has been authorized to address the problem. What problem? Oh, the ‘humanitarian challenge,’ not the open border problem. Each week, each shift at the station is given a certain amount of hours. The hours ‘first come, first serve’ and also based on seniority (Union). We can choose to work 2 hours of overtime per day or come in on our day off and work a full shift. The only stipulation is IT HAS TO BE FOR THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS. i.e processing, record checks, sally port security, file creation, transportation, etc. IT CAN’T BE FOR BORDER SECURITY.”

How does this play out in the field?

“Say for example at the end of a shift you are involved in a “bailout” and illegals are running everywhere in the neighborhood … since this is your case you have to catch the illegals, get the vehicle towed to the station, do a vehicle packet, generate paperwork for the bailout, create a “case” for prosecution, etc. the list goes on. Well, by this time it is two hours after your shift ended and you finally get finished … guess what? you don’t qualify for overtime … you get comp time.

What’s the problem with comp time?

According to the agent I spoke to, “this comp time has to be prescheduled with the supervisors and in only extreme cases the agent is justified in unscheduled comp time. This hinders the work and leave a massive gap during shift change if agents are late to replace them or if they are working ‘traffic.’ If agents are incentivized to stay longer until they are relieved by the next shift, it will close the gaps. But without overtime, if they make a spontaneous decision to stay an extra hour until the next shift comes, they will not get comp time either. This is why most of them just leave and the cartels smugglers know this, which is why there are so many bad guys getting in between shift changes.”

On the other hand, thanks to the supplemental funding bill, agents who work an extra two hours at the processing center or who come in on their day off are paid overtime

What sort of message does this send about the priorities of the agency?

Another longer-serving veteran agent in the RGV told me that if overtime were approved for line work, agents would jump at the opportunity to do their core jobs. “Agents are dying to get out of those facilities and actually do what they were trained to do. Offering agents overtime only for humanitarian work but not for security work sends the wrong message to agents and makes it clear that Congress does not prioritize our key mission nor do members understand how many security problems are emanating from the border and the need for more manpower.”

I asked a CBP press official if he was concerned about the dichotomy between the humanitarian and security work in terms of overtime pay. He declined to go on the record, but noted that Congress only approved the funding for humanitarian work and that none of this was the decision of DHS. They simply utilized the funds that were given to them in the way they were earmarked. He also suggested that by putting in more hours at the processing center, it could potentially free up other agents to go to the line.

Both line agents I spoke to vigorously disputed that premise. “That’s complete BS, it never relieves another guy to hit the field,” bemoaned the more senior of the two Texas agents I spoke with. “Assignments are done ahead of time and are not spontaneous. If I send three agents out to do border security due to having three overtime processors, it doesn’t serve the purpose of overtime which is to handle the high volume of processing. Thus, all the extra work goes into the humanitarian work, not on the line. We must add or multiply our number of agents processing, not swap them out. If anything, the supplemental – by funding more humanitarian work and not border security – has placed even more mandates on agents to divert more manpower away from the line.”

The other agent who often does night shifts noted that he has not seen “any difference in terms of the number of agents in the field since passage of the supplemental. The entire purpose of that bill was for diaper patrol, not for Border Patrol.”

There is another budget bill that will pass Congress in September, but once thing is clear: If the border crisis does get addressed, it will all be about more funding for caring for illegal immigrants rather than for doing what the Border Patrol was created to do. (For more from the author of “Congress Authorized Overtime for Agents on ‘Diaper Patrol,’ but Not for Agents at the Border” please click HERE)

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No Fame: A Swift Death Penalty Would Deter Some Mass Murderers

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What if rather than endless images of innocent people lying dead for the demented dark world on the internet to promote, there were public images of the perpetrator of mass shootings killed swiftly – either on the scene or by capital punishment within a few weeks? The fame that many mass murderers are seeking would be just as swiftly destroyed.

For all the debate over the death penalty in this country, we don’t carry out many executions. There have been 783,453 homicides in this country since the black-robed masters “allowed” us to continue our constitutional heritage of capital punishment for murderers, in 1976. But despite that number, just 1,500 individuals have actually been executed in 43 years. The numbers have declined dramatically in recent years, as only about 20 are executed per year, down from near 100 in the 1990s. Even for the few that are ultimately executed, it takes so many years to carry out that it has almost no deterrent value.

For those clamoring to “do something” about the mass murder events: Why shouldn’t those who are caught perpetrating a mass shooting be publicly executed within a few weeks or months following the attack?

Everyone agrees that lone wolf mass shooters with no prior records are very hard to detect. No honest person can suggest that any of these gun control proposals would have stopped almost any of the recent mass shooters. The best we can do is to deter them by making it clear that either someone concealing a weapon will neutralize them before they achieve the fame they are seeking, or they will be swiftly executed, so that rather than discussing their deed for months, we will be discussing their execution. Why shouldn’t we practice what our Founders did in these circumstances? As Justice Breyer noted in a 1999 case, “Our Constitution was written at a time when delay between sentencing and execution could be measured in days or weeks, not decades.” I’d settle for even a few months.

Yet as of 2017, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average death row inmate spends 20 years and three months in prison before execution from the time he is sentenced to death. That is up from about six years in 1984 and just days during the time of our Founding. Even the worst mass shooters remain alive for years, and the longer they linger, the more likely the execution will be canceled altogether.

Obviously, the death penalty will not deter all mass shooters, particularly Islamic suicide terrorists or those who take their own lives before being apprehended. But there is a clear pattern among alleged white supremacists and neo-Nazi mass murderers, in particular, showing that, despite their bravado, they are too scared to either take their own lives or fight to the death.

Here is a list of the most recent alleged white supremacists/neo-Nazi shootings:

1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting: Buford O. Furrow Jr. wounded five in the lobby of the L.A. Jewish Community Center and later killed a mail carrier. After fleeing the state, he eventually walked right into the Las Vegas FBI office and confessed. He entered a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty in favor of life without parole.

2009 shooting at Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C.: On June 10, 2009, notorious white supremacist James Wenneker von Brunn opened fire at the D.C. Holocaust museum and killed a police officer. He was captured alive and wounded, but given his poor health and old age, he later died while awaiting trial.

2014 Overland Park Jewish Community Center: Infamous Klansman and Nazi political leader 73-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. killed three people outside the JCC in Kansas City. He was captured alive by police. He was sentenced to death on November 10, 2015. Nearly four years later, one has to wonder if he will die long before any scheduled execution.

2015 Charleston, S.C., church shooting: On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof killed nine people in an African-American church during services. He fled the scene and was caught pretty unceremoniously the next day at a traffic stop. On January 17, 2017, Roof was sentenced to death. Several months later, a deal was made in order to avoid a second trial, and he was sentenced to life in prison instead. Now we will pay for his food and medical care for the rest of his life, and he is only in his 20s.

2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting: On October 27, 2018, Gregory Bowers walked into Tree of Life Synagogue and killed 11 and injured 7, in what became the worst attack targeting Jews in America. Notably, while Bowers was wounded during the shootout with the local SWAT team, he crawled out of his hiding place to surrender rather than taking his own life.

2019 Poway synagogue shooting: On April 27, 2019, 19-year-old John T. Earnest opened fire at a synagogue in Poway, Calif., killing one and injuring three. Not only did he not fight to the death, but he fled as he was being pursued by a Navy veteran. A short while later, he called in his own 911 report about the shooting, and when the police arrived, he dutifully came out of his car with his hands up.

Then, of course, there is the El Paso shooter from Saturday, who not only declined to fight to the death, but initially came in with hearing protection, despite his claim that he was willing to give up his life. He actually walked over to police in the Walmart parking lot unarmed and surrendered himself. (For more from the author of “No Fame: A Swift Death Penalty Would Deter Some Mass Murderers” please click HERE)

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Another Left-Wing Socialist Responsible for Mass Shooting, but MSM Continues Outrageous Lies

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By Breitbart. The Dayton Daily News reported Monday evening that the gunman who carried out a mass shooting early Sunday morning “definitely leaned to the left” politically and had talked to friends recently about shooting up local bars.

On Sunday evening, Breitbart News reported that Twitter had suspended an account reportedly linked to the shooter. The account had tweeted in support of socialism, in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), against President Donald Trump, and against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). . .

Until now, the mainstream media have taken no interest in the Ohio shooter’s views, preferring instead to focus on the white supremacist views of the gunman who attacked a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, the day before, killing 22 and wounding dozens more.

It is still unclear what connection, if any, the Ohio shooter’s left-wing political views had to the shooting, though El-Fakir speculated to the Dayton Daily News that the shooter may have bought body armor because he wanted to show how easy it was for anyone to obtain tactical weapons. (Read more from “Report: Dayton Shooter ‘Definitely Leaned to the Left,’ Talked About Shooting up Bars” HERE)

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Friend to Police: Dayton Killer Discussed Shooting up UD Bar

By Dayton Daily News. . .Friends of the Dayton Oregon District shooter cut ties with him earlier this year because he’d unexpectedly brandish guns and once talked about shooting up Timothy’s, a popular bar among University of Dayton students, a former friend told the Dayton Daily News. . .

El-Fakir told the Dayton Daily News he relayed that story to Dayton police Sunday afternoon. El-Fakir said he knew Betts from Bellbrook High School, where they graduated together. El-Fakir attended the University of Dayton and graduated this year. Betts enrolled in Sinclair Community College a few years after Bellbrook, something Sinclair officials said is normal among their students. . .

El-Fakir, who said he’s personally pro-2nd Amendment, described Betts as “definitely not a right-leaning person. His political views definitely leaned to the left. And believe it or not, he was actually pro-gun control. He was actually anti-2nd Amendment.”

“I don’t know if this is the motive that made him snap,” El-Fakir said, “(but I think) he donned himself with that ballistic vest just to show people how easy it was to arm themselves. It’s pure speculation.”

“He never once spit out a conservative opinion on gun control,” El-Fakir said. (Read more from “Friend to Police: Dayton Killer Discussed Shooting up UD Bar” HERE)

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America Is Drowning in the Left’s Lies About Trump

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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, never said there were “fine” Nazis or Ku Klux Klansmen.

This is one of the two great lies of our time — the other being that all Trump supporters are racists — and perhaps in all of American history. I cannot think of a lie of such significance that was held as truth by so many Americans, by every leading politician of one of the two major political parties and disseminated by virtually the entire media.

The major news media need to understand these are important reasons that half of America considers them frauds. And we get no pleasure from this fact. The reason we don’t recoil when the president labels the mainstream media “fake news” is that we know the charge is true. Has one major media news outlet yet apologized to the American people for preoccupying them for nearly two years with the lie of “Trump collusion” with Russia? Has one Democrat? Of course not. Because with regard to the Trump-Russia collusion issue, the news media were never driven by a pursuit of truth; they were driven by a pursuit of Trump. . .

The president never said there were fine Nazis. The left-wing assertion that the president of the United States said there were fine Nazis will long endure as an example of something that has been true since Lenin: Truth is not a left-wing value. Truth is a liberal value, and it is a conservative value. But it is not left-wing value. A leftist says whatever is necessary to gain power.

By remarkable coincidence, this week’s PragerU video is titled “The Charlottesville Lie.” It proves the president never said Nazis were fine people. When Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides,” he was referring to people demonstrating in Charlottesville for and against tearing down a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, not to Nazis and antifa. (Read more from “America Is Drowning in the Left’s Lies About Trump” HERE)

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Mass Shooting Averted After Grandma Intervenes

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Law enforcement always says, “If you see something, say something,” but so often with mass murderers, it always seems that nobody said anything despite the warning signs being there. One Texas grandmother, however, is being hailed by authorities as a hero after she convinced her grandson to seek mental help and turn himself in to police after he made threats that he was going to shoot up a nearby hotel and then commit suicide.

Federal authorities arrested William P. Williams of Lubbock, Texas last Thursday after authorities searched his hotel room where he had planned to kill countless innocents. According to Breaking911.com, “Officers found an AK-47 rifle, seventeen magazines loaded with ammunition, multiple knives, a black trench coat, black tactical pants, a black t-shirt that read ‘Let ‘Em Come,’ and black tactical gloves with the fingers cut off.”

The feds confiscated the weapon and placed Williams in custody, but were only made aware of the threat after his grandmother encouraged him to allow her to bring him to a local hospital for psych treatment following his comments that he intended on attacking the hotel.

“This was a tragedy averted,” U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox told media. “I want to praise the defendant’s grandmother, who saved lives by interrupting this plot, as well as the Lubbock police officers and federal agents who investigated his unlawful acquisition of a deadly weapon. If you suspect a friend or loved one is planning violence against themselves or others, do not hesitate to seek help immediately by calling law enforcement.” (Read more from “Mass Shooting Averted After Grandma Intervenes” HERE)

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President Trump Hits Venezuelan Dictator Maduro with Total Economic Embargo

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President Donald Trump announced an executive order to slap the government of Venezuela with brutal new sanctions that are reserved for only the worst regimes.

The order will freeze all assets of the socialist government in Venezuela and bars all transactions. . .

“I have determined that it is necessary to block the property of the Government of Venezuela in light of the continued usurpation of power by the illegitimate Nicolas Maduro regime,” [President Trump] said in the letter.

The letter listed the actions of the Venezuelan government that led to the sanctions, including, “the regime’s human rights abuses, arbitrary arrest and detention of Venezuelan citizens, curtailment of free press, and ongoing attempts to undermine Interim President Juan Guaido of Venezuela and the democratically-elected Venezuelan National Assembly.”

The U.S. and its allies hoped that Maduro would have stepped down after they threw their support behind Guaido, the opposition leader, but the dictator stubbornly held on to power with help from the Cuban government. (Read more from “President Trump Hits Venezuelan Dictator Maduro with Total Economic Embargo” HERE)

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Video: Car Rams Through Hong Kong Protesters

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A driver believed to be injured and refusing help from the crowd rammed through an improvised blockade in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, on Monday, hitting protesters standing on the other side.

The incident occurred during one of at least eight official protests organized against the Communist Party of China on Monday and a call for a general strike that left mass transit systems and the Hong Kong airport largely inoperable.

The protesters have presented a list of five demands to the Hong Kong government intended to safeguard the longstanding democratic tradition of the region, among them a call for universal suffrage. Currently, a direct vote only covers half the seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo), leaving the other half to regional special interests. . .

The Asian outlet Coconuts reported that the car in question, apparently a minivan model, boasted spray paint on its side reading “murderer” in Chinese. It is not clear at press time how the man’s car came to have that graffiti on it, though protesters on the scene indicated through Telegram that the man had an “altercation” with the protesters before driving into them. The nature of that alleged altercation also remains uncertain.

The Guardian reported that, according to individuals present, the driver was injured and refused help from the protesters, who offered to call medical services for him. Police confirmed only one person injured from the incident but did verify that video of the incident aligned with the reports they received. (Read more from “Video: Car Rams Through Hong Kong Protesters” HERE)

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Viral Google Memo Alleges Company Discriminates Against Pregnant Women

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Just one week after a former Google employee accused the company of discriminating against conservatives, a viral memo from a current employee alleges the company has been engaging in discrimination against pregnant women.

According to Motherboard, a memo written by a Google employee alleges that she was unfairly discriminated against for being pregnant. More than 10,000 employees have now read the accusations she laid out.

“Last week, the woman posted the memo, titled ‘I’m Not Returning to Google After Maternity Leave, and Here is Why,’ to an internal company message board for expecting and new mothers,” reports the outlet. “The memo was reposted to other internal message boards and has since gone viral, multiple current Google employees in different parts of the company have told Motherboard.” . . .

“I’m sharing this statement because I hope it informs needed change in how Google handles discrimination, harassment and retaliation,” she wrote. “This is a long read, but the details are important in understanding the often drawn-out, isolating and painful experience of victims of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Also, if anything similar has happened to you, know that you’re not alone.”

“I documented what my boss was saying and reached out to HR to ask for help in navigating the situation. It was shared that others had reported my manager behaving inappropriately and that feedback had already been given to her. I was told my comments might be shared directly with my boss, but not to worry because strong measures are in place at Google to prevent retaliation,” she wrote. “Almost immediately upon my discussions with HR, my manager’s demeanor towards me changed, and drastically. I endured months of angry chats and emails, vetoed projects, her ignoring me during in-person encounters, and public shaming.” (Read more from “Viral Google Memo Alleges Company Discriminates Against Pregnant Women” HERE)

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WATCH: Far-Left Protesters Call for McConnell’s Death Outside His Home

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Far-left demonstrators appeared at Mitch McConnell’s home in Louisville on Monday night and protested the 77-year-old who is recovering from a broken shoulder after he fell.

A short clip of the protesters was posted to Twitter by Ben Goldey, a life-long Kentuckian.

[Warning: video contains explicit language]

(Read more from “Far-Left Protesters Call for McConnell’s Death Outside His Home” HERE)

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California Sued over Law Blocking Trump from Ballot

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Four voters in California, along with the conservative transparency group Judicial Watch, announced Monday they have filed a federal lawsuit against the left-wing state, alleging its new law aimed at strong-arming President Trump into releasing his income tax returns is patently unconstitutional.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law known as the “Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act” last week. It would require Trump and other presidential primary candidates to file their tax returns for the most recent five years to the California secretary of state by November 26 or be excluded from the March 3, 2020 presidential primary ballot.

The measure sailed through the state’s Democratic-led legislature. Former California Gov. Jerry Brown had vetoed a similar version of the law last year, noting that it “may not be constitutional” and sets a “slippery slope precedent” that could lead the state to demand all kinds of documents from candidates.

“Today we require tax returns, but what would be next?” Brown asked. “Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards? And will these requirements vary depending on which political party is in power.” . . .

The Constitution requires only three things of presidents: They have to be a natural-born U.S. citizen; must be at least 35 and must have lived in the country for at least 14 years. (Although the precise legal meaning of the term “natural-born U.S. citizen” is debated, it generally is taken to apply when someone is either born in the U.S. or born abroad to a U.S. citizen.) (Read more from “California Sued over Law Blocking Trump from Ballot” HERE)

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