The Air Marshal Association issued a release last week commending the exemplary service of Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) serving at the southern border of the United States in response to the crisis created by an unprecedented number of undocumented alien entries.
Although the assignment is inconvenient for the FAMs deployed, and the agency must adjust mission priorities to comply with the DHS mandate, the order for FAMs to assist border agencies is lawful. The Air Marshal Association has worked closely with Congressional offices and the TSA to reduce the duration of the border deployment from 30 days to 21 days, has worked to ensure deployed agents have appropriate clothing and equipment to complete their mission, and is providing full union representation to deployed agents.
In was stated in the release that it is unfortunate that some Federal Air Marshals would resort to incendiary, partisan, and insurrectionist rhetoric to avoid being deployed to an undesirable assignment. According to the release fraudulent Air Marshal groups have formed that are espousing ‘mutiny’ and advising FAMs to disobey orders to deploy to the border, and noted that these groups, and the individual agents that make them up, must be cut from government like a cancer. The AMA believes these individuals should be investigated as an insider threat and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and said that there is no room in law enforcement for agents that lack integrity, promote insurrection, and fail to honor their oath of office.
For decades, Federal Air Marshals have deployed to dangerous hotspots around the world to advance U.S. interests. Although the AMA believes that their highly trained FAMs should be primarily used to investigate threats, generate intelligence, and serve as the last line of defense on high-risk missions, the Association also recognizes that border integrity is critical to the safety and security of our nation, and that the men and women of the Air Marshal Association are proud to serve their nation in this hour of need.
