U.S. Customs and Border Protection has retaliated for years against three whistleblowers who said they failed to collect DNA from millions of detainees, allowing some violent criminals to evade justice for decades, a federal investigation has found.
Fred Wynn, Mark Taylor and Mike Jones faced professional and financial consequences for highlighting their agency’s refusal to comply with federal law enforcement standards for collecting DNA from criminals arrested since 2009, according to the US Office of Special Counsel. USA (CSO).
“The agency’s failure to comply with the law has allowed subjects subsequently charged with violent crimes, including murder and sexual assault, to evade detection even when detained multiple times by CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ICE),” special counsel Henry Kerner told the then-president. Donald Trump and Congress in letters dated August 21, 2019.
“This is an unacceptable departure from the agency’s law enforcement mandate,” added Kerner, who said the trio claimed CBP had detained but not taken DNA from more than 5 million people over the previous decade.
US Customs and Border Protection has retaliated for years against three whistleblowers who called attention to the agency’s failure to collect DNA from detainees, an investigation by US Special Counsel has found. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has overseen ongoing retaliation against whistleblowers, according to a congressional letter he sent to him last week.Getty Images
“I think if you could get the totality over that time period…of how many Americans ended up being killed as a result, I think it would probably exceed the number of Americans who died on 9/11,” said a source familiar with the report. matter told The Post. “So that’s the damage. But we will never know the numbers.”
Months later, Trump’s Justice Department moved to expand DNA collection rules, which had been narrowly interpreted by former President Barack Obama’s officials.
The whistleblowers drew attention to the issue in February 2018 and their division was shut down soon after, prompting them to turn to the OSC.
The whistleblowers alleged that his agency had detained but not taken DNA from more than 5 million people in the past decade. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
The independent investigative agency found that CBP’s “actions were motivated by the agency’s discontent with the plaintiffs’ actual and perceived involvement in exposing the agency’s decade-long willful failure to implement a law designed to protect public safety,” a December 2, 2021 report, a letter summarizing their findings shows.
An OSC attorney handling the case also told CBP’s Office of Deputy Chief Legal Counsel that he was “approaching the agency to take corrective action” against the three whistleblowers, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.
CBP had the burden of proof that it would have taken action against the same employees had they not made the disclosures, the attorney said at the time.
“CBP takes the protection of whistleblowers very seriously and has policies and procedures in place to ensure adequate protection for whistleblowers,” a spokeswoman told The Post.AP
Taylor and Jones, who have worked for decades in federal law enforcement, also told the DHS Office of the Inspector General and the DHS Office of General Counsel on December 20, 2022 that their employer had stripped them of their badges. firearms and credentials.
Taylor also had his retirement coverage and future pension payments taken away.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a letter last week called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to end the retaliation and “immediately institute corrective measures.” He requested a response before this Friday, September 1.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called in a letter last week to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to end the retaliation and “immediately institute corrective measures.” Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
A CBP spokeswoman told The Post at the time that “CBP takes the protection of whistleblowers very seriously and has policies and procedures in place to ensure adequate protection for such individuals.”
“The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) ended its investigation into these claims without issuing a Prohibited Personnel Practices Report or seeking corrective action,” it added. “As this case is in active litigation, CBP is not free to provide any specific information or response on the characterization of the facts related to this appeal.”
The spokeswoman did not respond to follow-up requests on the CSO’s letter calling for “corrective measures.” Federal law does not require a Prohibited Personnel Practices Report before an agency responds to retaliation, said a source familiar with the investigation.
Trump’s Justice Department moved months later to begin DNA collection, which had been interpreted narrowly by former President Barack Obama’s officials. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
“Since 2006, I have never heard of a police officer being stripped of a gun and badge without cause,” the source added, saying the agency set an “example” of the trio by placing each on “constructive retirement.” .
“Rest assured, Senator Grassley will be closely monitoring a response as he presses for DHS to acknowledge its failure to comply with federal whistleblower protection laws and correct its retaliatory behavior,” a spokeswoman for the senator told the Post. “Efforts to impede Congress will not be tolerated.”
An OSC spokesperson declined to comment, citing “ongoing litigation” over the matter at the US Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), where the whistleblowers are appealing their case.
“There may be situations where the collection of DNA samples is not operationally feasible due to the sudden mass influx of aliens without immigration status,” said then-Attorney General Eric Holder. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
“While OSC is not involved in the MSPB case, we are unable to comment to avoid the appearance of prejudice to either party while litigation is pending,” the spokesperson told The Post.
All three whistleblowers were members of CBP’s now-defunct Weapons of Mass Destruction Division between 2016 and 2018, which had been chosen for a pilot program to implement the DNA Fingerprinting Act.
The law was not interpreted as a federal regulation until the end of 2008 and went into effect the following year. But Obama administration officials subsequently denied the agency the authority to collect DNA.
All three whistleblowers subsequently suffered professional consequences and reputational damage, special counsel Henry Kerner found.Getty Images
“I have decided to reserve to the Department of Justice the authority to allow exceptions to the collection of DNA samples from criminal detainees,” then-Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter dated July 22, 2010, following a request from the then-Department of Homeland Security. National. The Secretary of Security, Janet Napolitano.
“There may be situations where the collection of DNA samples is not operationally feasible due to the sudden massive influx of aliens without immigration status,” Holder added. “In such cases, it is possible that most aliens will be detained as detained immigrants and not be criminally charged. Given their intent not to collect DNA samples from detained immigrants who are not criminally charged, this concern does not appear to be an issue.”
Another November 18, 2010 Holder memo said that DHS would also be given more time “to implement its agencies’ collection of DNA samples from arrestees” due to a lack of resources.
The whistleblowers highlighted the wrongdoing to officials at DHS headquarters, including Miles Taylor (pictured above), the author of articles and books against Trump administration policy. The Washington Post via Getty Images
On February 15, 2018, a DHS employee who worked with the complainants highlighted the irregularities in the DNA collection to officials at agency headquarters.
One such official was Miles Taylor, who authored articles and books against Trump administration policy under the pen name “Anonymous” while serving as chief of staff to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
The email, which the whistleblowers requested, eventually led to the closure of the weapons of mass destruction division, and a conference call was held months later to discuss ways to garner public support for reducing or ending the program.
“We will take this poor 70-year-old lady out and collect DNA from her to generate opposition and so on,” a source familiar with the April 18, 2018 discussion characterized The Post.
The three whistleblowers subsequently suffered professional consequences and reputational damage for revealing the wrongdoing, including the loss of performance awards, and were removed from high-profile projects involving the enforcement of measures against members of the MS-13 gang, the report found. Special Prosecutor.
Jones, who served as the program’s acting director, was also passed over for the director’s position at a new bureau doing similar law enforcement work called the Division of Field Operational Testing.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn