House of Representatives member Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) introduced legislation proposing a $6,500 "deployment bonus" for agents serving along high trafficked areas of the U.S. border.
The specific legislation, entitled The Customs and Border Protection Crisis Hardship and Incentive Pay Act of 2022 proposes a $250 bonus per pay period for agents who "serve along a border where more than 1,000 migrants are encountered each day, those who secure the border in sectors where they are subjected to the threat of physical harm or imminent danger from cartels, and those who are in a sector where fentanyl is encountered."
Crenshaw, a former Navy Seal, says of the proposal, "When we’re deployed in the military, we receive incentive pay because of the hardships we face while on deployment. But, we always come back home after a certain period." He continues, "CBP doesn’t leave and come back, they are there day-in and day-out. We need to provide them with incentives to stay and compensate them for the work they are doing on the front lines of keeping the homeland safe. This effort is a start."
MAYORKAS DEFENDS DHS RECORD AMID RECORD ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS
House Republicans have been especially critical of U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas' handling of the border during the Biden Administration with some going so far as calling for his impeachment.
Mayorkas has defended his handling of the border in recent weeks. "Well, we are devoting tremendous resources to address the border in a way that achieves its security and upholds its values," Mayorkas said during a security conference. "We are modernizing our systems at the border to expedite processing, bringing greater efficiency to it. We are intensely focused on this mission set, just as we are intensely focused on the mission sets that we confront as a department from top to bottom."
The Biden administration similarly defended their handling of the border. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated during a press conference, "What we stand by is that we are doing everything that we can to make sure that we follow the process that’s been put forth. That’s why we have historic funding to do just that, to make sure that the folks that we encounter at the border be removed or expelled."
BIDEN FACES NEW DEM PRESSURE TO TAKE STRONGER ACTION AT MEXICO BORDER
Crenshaw says of the border "Our CBP law enforcement officers have bore the brunt of the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas border crisis. They’ve suffered hardships – including longer working hours, being pulled off the line, and seeing the border they swore to protect left open because of negligence and apathy." He continues, "What’s worse is they are being exposed to more danger than ever before. Deadly fentanyl is being trafficked into the U.S. more than it ever has been and the cartels grow richer, stronger, and better equipped than ever."
"CBP agents are not being supported by this administration and it's infuriating," Crenshaw told Fox News Digital. "They need help."
