According to a new report by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has now discontinued the COVID-19 vaccination obligation for its workers that had previously been been instituted.
President of the National Border Patrol Council Brandon Judd verified to the DCNF that the vaccination mandate and testing criteria had been dropped.
President Joe Biden imposed the directive to all government employees by executive order on September 9.
Border agents who did not get vaccinated and did not have legal exemptions had previously risked probable firing, according to two current agents and a union representative.
CBP delayed the vaccination requirement in January due to a court decision in support of Texas’ bid to stop the mandate.
The latest move makes some unvaccinated agents feel like their battles against the mandate, ostracization from their fellow agents, and fears of losing their jobs were all for naught according to individuals contacted by the Caller for the report.
“It boggles my mind that the agency was ready to lose maybe about half of its workforce during this crisis that we’re having right now at the border. I just didn’t understand that they were willing to reprimand these guys or even dismiss them or fire them going through this crisis at the border,” one agent said.
The historic spike in illegal migration in fiscal year 2022, when CBP encountered over 2.3 million migrants, has further exacerbated the situation for the workers, particularly those threatened for failing to receive the vaccine.
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