Web Posted: 08/24/2004 12:00 AM CDT

Hernán Rozemberg
Express-News Immigration Writer

Officers safeguarding U.S. borders say they lack appropriate resources and training to do their jobs, their input is not sought in policy decisions and those decisions have not made the country any safer since the 9-11 attacks, according to a survey released Monday.

Unions representing about 13,000 Border Patrol agents and immigration inspectors hired a firm to conduct the survey earlier this month.

Government officials were quick to dismiss the poll's pessimistic premise, saying results were skewed to reflect union perspectives.

The survey asked 500 officers about their job satisfaction and how the government has performed in securing borders since the terrorist attacks.

Union leaders, frequently accused of not speaking for most officers, said the results show the rank-and-file concur with their negative views on personnel and security matters.

"Folks sit in their ivory tower in Washington without a clue of what's going on out in the field," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Union.

"They just don't listen — agents keep saying that deterrence is boring as hell as it's not working," Bonner said.

According to the survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research, 60 percent of the respondents reported being demoralized, while 45 percent have considered quitting.

Majorities say not only are their suggestions for policy change ignored, but so are their pleas for newer and better equipment. Bonner said problems range from defective body armor to antiquated radios and broken-down vehicles.

Negative sentiments also abound among immigration inspectors, the folks typically encountered when coming into the country through traditional ports of entry.

"Unless something is done to turn this situation around, we might as well wave a white flag at the terrorists, because they will win," said Charles Showalter, president of the National Homeland Security Council.

More than half the respondents thought the merger of immigration enforcement agencies into the Homeland Security Department has not improved security.

"They want us to be meeters and greeters instead of enforcement officers," one was quoted responding to the survey.

The polling did not include any of the roughly 15,000 former Customs Service inspectors, who are now also part of Homeland Security. Officials with the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents customs inspectors, did not return calls seeking comment.

The survey was designed to further the union's agenda, Gloria Chávez, spokeswoman for Customs and Border Protection, said in a statement.

"The individuals that were questioned are current union members and do not represent front-line agents," she said.

The agency has offered numerous anti-terrorism seminars and many agents have received training in new computer systems, she said, while immigration enforcement is "a more unified force than ever before."

Without acknowledging low morale, she said the agency strives to boost work conditions, such as pay increases for veteran agents.