Goodbye David. We are glad you are finally leaving. We just hope that this isn’t a trick. We hope that you never resurface in any shape, form or fashion as a “leader” for the Border Patrol. It is almost impossible to dream up a one-man wrecking crew for the Border Patrol who could do more damage over the years than David Aguilar. He is a liar, a hypocrite, a self-serving egomaniac and a complete sellout. He always surrounded himself with largely incompetent yes-men whose only qualification was that they agreed with everything he said. Many of them left in disgrace after being caught stealing, lying, engaging in sexual misdeeds on duty and otherwise disgracing the uniform (and the standard to get rid of a top-ranking manager is very, very steep, regardless of the fictional “higher standard” they would have you believe they are held to).
David’s famous magic show tours were something to behold. He could convince inexperienced agents and some lobotomized managers that the moon was indeed made of Swiss cheese. He had a large bag of tricks he liked to use. For instance, when he was exposed in front of the agents during one of his magic shows, he used lines like “Thanks for making my point for me.” Huh? You were just undressed and spanked in front of your troops and that is the line you use? And with a straight face? It was comical. This man would fire agents for dropping F-bombs on supervisors during arguments, and then engage in vulgar tirades in front of the same agents. Apparently, F-bombs dropped in Spanish are much more acceptable than F-bombs dropped in English.
David famously toured the country a few years ago trying to convince Border Patrol agents that we were “not immigration officers”. He talked about how arresting illegal aliens was not our primary responsibility and how we should never “lower” ourselves to the status of immigration officers. He lobbied very hard for amnesty and bringing illegal aliens “out of the shadows” during testimony to Congress, but then denied that he was pro-amnesty when talking to Border Patrol agents. He liked to wordsmith, a lot. The oft-repeated “I never said that.” was a staple of his arguments, even when there was a record of what he said.
David was the illustrious recipient of two unprecedented unanimous votes of no confidence by Border Patrol agents at two consecutive national union conventions. These votes went far beyond anything related to the normal friction between management and the union. Never before was any manager so despised that he or she even came close to such a public rebuke. And they just kept promoting him. Far too many politicians fell for his magic act and didn’t bother to dig into the facts and hold him accountable. For example, he was staunchly anti-union, and surrounded himself with managers who were expected to engage in every union-busting tactic known to man. He wanted the “union” to be an operational arm of the Chief’s office and to sell the troops out in order to remain in his good graces. For instance, he wanted Border Patrol agents to be forced to clean up tons of trash left behind by illegal aliens, and went so far as to say that he would install trash racks on top of patrol vehicles When we objected, largely based on safety concerns, and told him we would aggressively fight his proposal, he became angry. It was unbelievable to hear a Chief attempting to turn Border Patrol agents into sanitation workers. He was willing to sell agents out to appease environmental activists. The union was not. There are many more examples, but you get the idea.
David hit mandatory retirement in December of 2012. But he was given a 3-month extension. The untold story behind what he claims in his final message (that he just decided to retire on March 31st), is that he had campaigned very hard for the CBP commissioner post. He apparently didn’t get it. We don’t know why. Any other agent is forced out the door the day they turn 57. But David is special. He only had 57 years to plan for the day he turned 57, so we fully understand why he was apparently unprepared and needed 3 more months to leave. David was never a true field agent. Never once distinguished himself in the few years he actually spent working the field that we’re aware of. He was a big-talking politician who played himself up while foolish people kept promoting him.
We hope DHS puts a leader in place that we can respect. And we’re not asking for someone who agrees with everything we say, we’re just asking for someone who is honest, fair, qualified and is in possession of true leadership qualities. In other words, someone who is the complete opposite of David Aguilar.