7 hours ago
6
ARTICLE AD BOX
The Trump administration gave back pay and promotions to three Customs and Border Protection officials who suffered demotions and other retaliation after blowing the whistle on the agency’s failure to collect DNA samples from illegal immigrants.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, who negotiated the deal, announced Monday that the three agents were elevated to new supervisory roles at CBP and will receive back pay and retirement benefits to cover years of financial losses.
“Today is a victory for Fred Wynn, Mike Taylor, Mark Jones and the rule of law. At long last, these patriotic men will be made whole again,” Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, said in a statement.
He credited the Department of Homeland Security and CBP for doing what’s right.
“Once again, the Trump administration has shown its respect for people that blow the whistle on wrongdoing,” the senator said.
CBP also reauthorized law enforcement badges and firearms for Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jones, who were stripped of both by the Biden administration in 2023 after exposing CBP’s failure to comply with the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005.
SEE ALSO: DeSantis sets pace for GOP governors on immigration
The law mandates the collection of DNA samples from people who are arrested, charged or convicted of crimes, as well as non-U.S. persons detained under federal authority. Federal agencies also must submit the DNA samples to the FBI for analysis and inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the three men “had courage and patriotism to speak up against the Biden administration’s deliberate efforts to destroy our national security.”
She said, “They paid an unjust price for doing so — betrayed by an administration that protected lawbreakers and punished law enforcement.”
Mr. Wynn, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jones were also witnesses at a congressional roundtable last July hosted by Mr. Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, about whistleblower retaliation at Homeland Security and the failure to collect DNA from illegal immigrants nabbed at the southern border.
In November 2018, Mr. Grassley first notified DHS about the department’s failure to collect DNA as required by law.
A 2019 letter to President Trump from the Office of the Special Counsel stated that the department’s noncompliance with the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 had “compromised public safety” and “allowed subjects accused of violent crimes, including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times.”
The Trump administration made regulatory changes in 2020 and required DNA collection as the law demands, but the three whistleblowers said federal bureaucrats put up roadblocks at every turn.
“After making their protected disclosures, all three whistleblowers were retaliated against,” Mr. Grassley said.
They were subjected to significant changes in duties, responsibilities and working conditions, including an overall reduction in pay and removal from supervisory positions.
The Biden-Harris administration failed to comply with the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 after they assumed power in January 2021.
In 2022, Border Patrol removed credentials, law enforcement authorities and firearms from Mr. Taylor and Mr. Jones. Mr. Taylor also lost his law enforcement retirement benefits after 30 years of federal service.
By 2023, data showed CBP was collecting DNA samples from less than 40% of the illegal immigrants entering during the Biden-Harris administration.
English (US) ·