Border Patrol agents facing furloughs
Photographer: KNXV
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 03/14/2013
TUCSON, AZ - United States Border Patrol agents will soon feel the effect from the sequester.
Starting in April, agents will be furloughed for up to 14 days until September. They’ve also been required to cut overtime.
“This means, if agents are chasing a bad guy, and they are near the end of their shift, they’ll have to stop,” said Tucson Sector Border Patrol Union Representative Robert Pepperdine.
Pepperdine said these budget cuts mean the nation is losing 3,600 hours a day in securing the border. They also mean a 20 percent cut in patrols.
“That is a significant amount of time that agents need to provide security,” Pepperdine said.
The Border Patrol union said agents could lose up to 40 percent of their pay. Starting agents make approximately $35,000.
According to the Tucson Sector, they are scheduling the agents so that the beginning and end of their shifts overlap to accommodate for the furloughs and overtime cuts.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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