McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Border Patrol agents are now eligible to receive higher rates of overtime pay, under a provision of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
President Joe Biden signed the act into law on Dec. 22, which allows Border Patrol agents to receive time and a half pay for overtime hours that they work.
This applies to agents at the government rank of GS-12 and above, according to the new law.
Border Patrol officials say it is long overdue.
“Time and a half is the industry standard,” Hector Garza, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents Border Patrol agents, said Wednesday morning during a news conference in Laredo, Texas. “Now agents will be paid time and a half for the overtime hours they work.”
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, helped add the overtime provision into the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA. The law, which Congress must pass every year, oversees the budget and expenditures for the Department of Defense.
Cuellar said Border Patrol agents had to work over the Christmas holidays and didn’t receive just compensation.
“Our Border Patrol agents continue to work around the clock as the humanitarian crisis unfolds at the southern border,” Cuellar said Wednesday. “The lack of adequate overtime pay for agents has created severe issues with retention and recruitment while negatively impacting morale between our ports of entry. I’m pleased that this change will get our hardworking Border Patrol agents the overtime pay they deserve.”
Congress in Fiscal 2023 approved funding to hire 300 new Border Patrol agents, but Cuellar says the agency hasn’t been able to fill the posts because the pay isn’t attractive.
Garza said it’s been difficult for the agency to attract and retain qualified agents since a change in pay structure was enacted in 2014, essentially eliminating time and a half for overtime hours worked.
“This important pay reform will allow us to better recruit and retain future personnel,” Garza said.
Agents will receive backpay for any overtime hours they worked from Dec. 22 until the agency’s new pay structure is in place, according to the National Border Patrol Council.
The change in pay aligns with other federal agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Members of the U.S. Border Patrol keep an eye on hundreds of migrants gathering along the border Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, in Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In addition, federal workers will receive an average 5.2% pay raise in 2024 — the highest raise for the federal workforce in over 40 years. President Biden signed the executive order just days before Christmas.
In Texas, GS-12 workers annual pay now starts from $88,000 to $100,000, depending on location.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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