Thousands of federal immigration agents have been complaining about their jobs in an online forum, blasting “incompetent management,” according to a report.
Agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, which are part of the Department of Homeland Security, have vented their frustrations online as they have been put at the center of the Trump administration’s crackdown.
There are over 5,000 users on the anonymous forum that appears from IN claiming to be current and former federal immigration agents. There, they complained of the agencies’ negative public perception, long working hours and “incompetent” leadership, according to the outlet.
The outlet noted that users on the forum do not need to provide proof of employment to join and would not confirm the identities of the people posting.
Users were candid about the public perception of agencies amid the Trump administration’s immigration surge in cities across the United States
Thousands of federal immigration agents have been complaining about their jobs in an online forum, blasting ‘incompetent management’, according to a report (Getty)
“I’m all for illegal removal, but snatching dudes off lawn mowers in Cali and leaving the truck and equipment just sitting there? I sure don’t work smarter,” said one user in a post that sees them IN.
The forum posts reportedly increased after public scrutiny and outrage at agencies in Minnesota, where US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.
One user started a thread with the title, “Ready to resign, had enough stress” five days before Pretti was killed. “I have 2.3 years for the full retirement of the special category … but I don’t know if I will do it. I am tired of this Agency. Employees are being badly abused,” wrote the user.
The user also complained about agents being deployed for temporary work at short notice in cities where the administration is conducting large-scale immigration operations.
“No more weekends off, more work than ever in 18 years. No more union. No more downtime,” the post reportedly continued. “This is not what any of us thought of for the last years of our career when we are 50 years old.”
Other users attacked the leadership of Internal Security.
“Run by some of the worst leadership I’ve ever seen, from the local level to the national stage, this agency has managed to turn a righteous mission into a complete clown show,” wrote another user.
“This is going to be a train wreck we can’t survive,” said another.
The agents complained of the negative public perception of the agencies, led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. They cited long working hours and ‘incompetent’ management, according to the report (AFP via Getty Images)
The Independent had contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Reports of “severely low” morale among federal law enforcement officers tasked with carrying out the administration’s immigration operations have been rife since the unrest in Minneapolis. In a report in late January, more than 20 current and former immigration officials said The New York Times of discontent tag[homfis-sig[atta’waral-isparaturafatalita’Pretti
Uffiċjali attwali u preċedenti tal-ICE li tkellmu mal-ħanut b’mod anonimu qalu li kienu “mhux kuntenti bir-retorika qawwija” li ġejja mill-ogħla uffiċjali tal-White House u tas-Sigurtà Interna, li malajr iwaħħlu fuq Pretti.
Aġent wieħed ICE qal lill- Times li hu kien “dejjem ta l-benefiċċju tad-dubju lill-gvern f’dawn is-sitwazzjonijiet,” imma li issa m’għadux jemmen “l-ebda waħda mid-dikjarazzjonijiet li għamlu aktar.”
“Tlifna kull fiduċja,” żied uffiċjal attwali tal-ICE. “M’inix ċert li nista’ nara kif neżisti tliet snin minn issa.”
Il-korrispondent tal-Fox News Bill Melugin irrapporta wkoll “frustrazzjoni estrema” fid-dipartiment dwar “uħud mill-pretensjonijiet u n-narrattivi mbuttati mid-DHS wara l-isparatura.”
“Dawn is-sorsi jgħidu li dan il-messaġġ mill-uffiċjali tad-DHS kien katastrofiku mill-perspettiva tal-PR u l-moral, peress li qed inaqqas il-fiduċja u l-kredibilità,” irrapporta Melugin il-Ħadd.
Bi tweġiba, Tricia McLaughlin, assistent segretarju tad-Dipartiment tas-Sigurtà Interna, qalet li l-ICE u l-aġenti tal-għassa tal-fruntiera “qumu kull filgħodu biex jippruvaw jagħmlu l-komunitajiet tagħna aktar sikuri.”
“L-irġiel u n-nisa tal-ICE u l-Border Patrol huma missirijiet u ommijiet, subien u bniet,” qal McLaughlin fi stqarrija preċedenti lil L-Indipendenti. “Bħal kulħadd, l-uffiċjali tagħna jridu biss imorru d-dar għall-familji tagħna bil-lejl. Il-vjolenza u d-diżumanizzazzjoni ta ‘dawn l-irġiel u n-nisa li sempliċement qed jinfurzaw il-liġi għandhom jieqfu.”