Last week, Grassley sent a strongly worded complaint to the INS Commissioner for taking action against these whistleblowers. Grassley was a principal Senate author of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989.
Grassley said he's now been told that the INS will provide both agents back-pay plus interest for the loss of special pay and will rescind and expunge all four disciplinary proposals. "This is obviously the right thing for the INS to do," Grassley said. "Any federal employee who knows about homeland security problems that aren't being addressed and brings them up is providing an invaluable service to the public. They deserve praise and support, not pay cuts and demotions."
However, Grassley said he remains extremely concerned that the INS reportedly plans to deny a request made by the Office of Special Counsel to provide whistleblower training for all INS managers and supervisors in the Detroit sector and the Eastern regional office. The OSC is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency that works to protect federal employees from illegal personnel practices, including whistleblower disclosures.
"This case shows that bureaucrats at the INS either don't respect or don't understand the protections afforded under the Whistleblower Protection Act," Grassley said.
INS Commissioner James Ziglar has not yet responded to Grassley's March 28 letter. Grassley asked for a reply in ten days. The senator said he is especially interested in what disciplinary action is planned for the supervisors who instigated the retaliation against the whistleblowers. "The INS has enough to worry about with keeping the nation's borders secure and preventing more embarrassing mistakes without plotting retaliation against whistleblowers," Grassley said.
The INS border patrol agents who have spotlighted security problems are Mark Hall and Robert Lindemann. They are based in Detroit for the INS.