"Poll Finds Low Morale for Border Officers"

From the LAT:

Front-line U.S. border security officers are divided over whether the nation is safer from terrorism than it was before the Sept. 11 attacks, and many say morale in the Department of Homeland Security is low, according to a poll released Monday.

A slim majority - 53% - of Border Patrol agents and immigration inspectors say they believe the country is safer, and 44% believe it is no safer or less safe, the survey of 1,000 officers found. Unions representing about 16,000 agents and inspectors sponsored the poll, which was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.

"The bureaucratic bungling that plagued and hampered the old Immigration and Naturalization Service has not only survived, it has thrived in the new Department of Homeland Security," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, one of the unions that participated in the poll. "Bureaucrats are not listening to the front-line border-protection personnel."

The poll results and a summary are in the PDF files here. See also "Border Patrol union says new rules 'muzzle' critics of the agency".

Immigration2004 · Tue, 08/24/2004 - 18:14 · · Importance: 1