Inspectors at border could lose jobs over new training

By Tamara Audi

Hundreds of federal inspectors who work at the nation's international border crossings and airports, including those at Detroit's Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Port Huron's Blue Water Bridge, may lose their jobs if they cannot attend, or fail to pass, a four-month training course in Georgia.

While the training may seem like a trivial matter, union officials representing border workers said last week that the extended session is placing an unnecessary burden on agents that will also hurt national security.

In the short term, union leaders say, the training will weaken border security as the remaining workforce has to compensate for the missing agents. In the long term, they contend, it may force out some of the most experienced agents.

But government officials say the training is necessary to update longtime and part-time officers on new technology and techniques used to prevent terrorists and weapons from entering the country.

"Believe me, this antiterror training is something that they've never gotten before," Jim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said last week. "There is an important need to get them up to speed with the most important, up-to-date antiterror training."

New requirement

The four-month course is a new requirement for Customs and Border Protection officers who fall under a classification known as other than full time.

Those workers were initially hired under a program started decades ago to help beef up border inspections and speed summertime traffic through international crossings. It was seasonal work for many; teachers, for instance, were often hired during the busy summer travel months.

But the government has used the other-than--full-time designation -- which pays less than the regular full-time designation -- to hire officers who essentially do full-time work. That was especially true after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officers and union officials said.

Time and training

Joe Janos, vice president of National Homeland Security Council Local 46, the union that represents Detroit border officers, said last week that he and most of the other-than--full-time employees he knows in Michigan work 40-plus hours a week.

An inspector at the Ambassador Bridge, Janos plans to attend the training this summer and fall, though it means he will be away for a few months right after the birth of his first child.

Charles Showalter, national president of the National Homeland Security Council, said officers like Janos have already passed a condensed federal training course and perform the same tasks as their full-time colleagues.

"Some of these guys have been doing these jobs for 20 years," Showalter said last week. "When it comes to being able to do the hard-core public safety work like identifying fraudulent documents, not only do they receive the training, they have years of experience doing it."

And by forcing the employees to undergo the training, the government could end up pushing out inspectors who can't afford to leave second jobs or family obligations for four months on short notice, Showalter said, adding that the training could be done locally.

Making sacrifices

In Michigan, for example, at least two public school educators who work as inspectors at Detroit border crossings cannot leave their jobs to attend training, officers said.

About 500 officers received letters last month saying they would have to report to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. Otherwise, they'd lose their jobs.

Mike Burrill, who works at the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie, said last week that he and his wife came to the conclusion that she would have to quit her job as a housekeeper at a resort casino to stay home with their two young children while he is gone.

Without his wife's salary, Burrill said he can't afford to keep his Ford F-150 pickup. He's selling it.

Sean Compton, who works at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, said last week that he had already planned his Oct. 22 wedding when he learned he would have to leave for training this summer.

Compton will report to training, dash back up to Royal Oak for the weekend to get married, then return to Georgia immediately.

Showalter said one longtime border officer in Buffalo, N.Y., cannot leave his home because his wife is undergoing cancer treatment.

Meeting standards

Showalter also said older agents are concerned that they will not be able to pass medical and physical standards meant for young, new hires.

Hawkins said agents will not be failed if, for example, if they do not complete a 1.5-mile run within the 19-minute guideline, but Showalter contends the government has refused to put that guarantee in writing. He said some agents speculate the agency is pushing them out.

"We are going to lose very valuable officers because of this," he said. "Some agents really feel it's getting rid of the older folks."

Government officials say that is not the case, though they are aware they may lose some officers.

"The need to have our frontline officers, to have them receive the frontline training, is of utmost importance," Hawkins said.

Contact TAMARA AUDI at 313-222-6582 or audi@freepress.com.

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