Border chief wins bonus despite criticism

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By Jerry Seper

Fifteen field agents contacted by The Times all said they had seen the letter and said the concerns it raised were "right on" or "pretty accurate." They said it had been widely circulated, and that its writers did not sign the letter for fear of losing their jobs or receiving some sort of punishment.

The letter focused on the Presidential Rank Award, which President Bush gave in December to Chief Aguilar for "sustained extraordinary accomplishment." Career senior executives from across government are nominated by their agency heads, evaluated by citizen panels and designated by the president -- each receiving a bonus equal to 35 percent of their annual salary.

The 2008 awards will be given in February to 57 government executives from 24 agencies.

Chief Aguilar was being paid $172,000 annually at the time of the award, Border Patrol spokesman Michael Friel said, but his salary was raised to $177,000 on Jan. 4. Mr. Friel also confirmed the bonus amount.

The letter is the most recent evidence of continuing dissension within the Border Patrol ranks. Chief Aguilar was bitterly challenged by many of the agency's rank and file for not supporting Agents Ignacio Ramos and Alonso Compean, who were convicted in the shooting of Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, who later pleaded guilty to federal drug smuggling charges in a separate smuggled load of marijuana.

The agents were sentenced to 10- and 11-year prison terms.

The leadership of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents the agency's non-supervisory personnel, voted a no-confidence resolution against the chief in April 2007. It won the unanimous endorsement of all 100 of the NBPC's national leadership.

The union later accused the chief of trying to "intimidate" field agents to discredit the vote, saying he "willfully and blatantly" violated federal guidelines by sending a top aide to seek a "show of hands" among field agents for those who supported the chief in the wake of the no-confidence vote -- knowing the agents would not risk retaliation by publicly opposing the chief.

The letter outlines what it called a "disconnect" between Chief Aguilar and front-line agents and cites a "growing frustration" over the chief's "misguided policies and politics."

It criticized a new fence along 28 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border, saying taxpayers had spent more than $20 million on a project that "has not been fully functional for a single day since we were forced to accept delivery by your office." It said that while the fence, known as Project 28, was supposed to provide a blueprint for effective border security, field agents had no input into its development and Chief Aguilar ignored warnings that it had no chance to live up to expectations.