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CBPOs Featured in Recent Broadcast on America’s First Line of Defense
At New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, about 30,000 international travelers a day are processed by CBPOs. Across the continent, at Los Angeles International Airport, CBPOs process nearly 9 million annually.
These are just two ports of entry featured in a recent Dateline NBC news report that highlights all the work that CBPOs do to protect the U.S. border on a regular basis.
Whether it is detecting fugitives, smugglers, potential terrorists or confiscating illegal goods and contraband, this report gives the audience a peek at the job itself as well as a look at the men and women behind the job.
The entire video of the hour-long show is available on the MSNBC web site, but in segments. Here are links to each segment:
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Congratulations!
Beginning July 6, CBP Officers who did not opt out will begin to reap the rewards of the long-awaited enhanced retirement program that could increase your CBP pension by thousands of dollars in compounded benefits annually. This new program is the result of NTEU’s successful fight for the retirement benefits that all CBP Officers deserve.
Despite the administration’s best efforts to repeal the long-overdue benefits program and eliminate its funding, NTEU made sure that the coverage will begin right on schedule—July 6. Thanks to your longstanding support, NTEU was able to secure the enhanced retirement as part of a 2008 spending bill signed into law last December.
In its initial budget submission earlier this year, the White House proposed repealing funding for the program. In the intervening months, NTEU has worked diligently with lawmakers and agency management to ensure that it is implemented properly and on time. More
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MORE NEWS
NTEU-Won LEO Retirement Benefit Takes Effect For CBP Officers
A new era began on July 6 for thousands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) who—thanks to NTEU—will begin receiving an enhanced law enforcement officer (LEO) retirement benefit.
The long-sought program recognizes the dangerous nature of their jobs and provides CBPOs with a higher pension formula.
“This is a cause for celebration both for employees and CBP,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley. “This new program recognizes these men and women for the law enforcement work they do every day, and it will provide the agency with an important new recruiting and retention tool that I hope it will use effectively.”
Under the legislation—which NTEU had to fight to retain after the White House proposed its repeal and then declined to propose funding the LEO program—some 18,000 CBPOs are immediately eligible for an enhanced retirement benefit beginning July 6 and lasting until the end of their career. More
NTEU Efforts Secure Funding for LEO Retirement, Increased CBP Staffing In House Appropriations Markup
The House Appropriations Homeland Security Committee voted in late June to provide full funding for the enhanced Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Retirement benefit for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers and to increase funding for desperately-needed CBP positions. The vote followed an assertive and successful lobbying effort by NTEU.
In its markup of the fiscal 2009 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, the House panel rejected a White House proposal to eliminate the LEO retirement coverage for CBP Officers won by NTEU and instead included the $217 million necessary to fund the program in fiscal 2009. The Senate last week marked up a bill with similar provisions.
NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley strongly applauded the action of the House appropriators. “Last year at this time, we were fighting for LEO retirement recognition for these deserving CBP Officers. Now, implementation of the program is less than two weeks away and I am very pleased to see the committee fully funding this important recruitment and retention program for 2009 despite White House calls for its elimination,” she said. More
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