WASHINGTON — The politics of the U.S.-Mexico border usually divide Republicans and Democrats, but lawmakers from both parties are coming together in Congress hoping to address the mental health struggles of the nation’s border patrol agents. 

What You Need To Know

  • The bipartisan group of House members held a moment of silence Wednesday for three border patrol agents who died by suicide last month

  • Rep. Tony Gonzales announced legislation to create a task force to address the mental health struggles of border patrol agents, especially suicides

  • A border patrol union official said increasing services is not enough and that more must be done to address the fear of being stigmatized for seeking help

The bipartisan group of House members held a moment of silence Wednesday for three border patrol agents who died by suicide last month. 

“These things that they are seeing, what they’ve been exposed to 100% has an impact on you. I go back to it. It reminds me of my time in the military. These war life situations are just—they leave an everlasting impact on you,” said Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, a Navy veteran who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars.

Standing alongside his colleagues, including fellow Texas lawmakers representing border communities, Gonzales announced legislation to create a task force to address the mental health struggles of border patrol agents, especially suicides. 

Customs and Border Protection says more than 130 staff members have died by suicide since 2009—including 14 so far this year.

“When suicide happens, it’s often very complicated, and it’s usually not one specific issue,” Gonzales said. “Suicides are very complicated, but the sheer fact that there’s 14 of them is a problem. I don’t care how we got there, it shows that there’s a problem.”

In a statement to Spectrum News, the agency said, “There is no higher priority for CBP than taking care of our people. This is why we are facilitating a culture that destigmatizes suicide and makes it safe for employees to seek help.”

It went on to say, “We are increasingly dedicating resources to support our workforce’s mental health and well-being.”

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, joined Gonzalez for Wednesday’s announcement. 

Both men sit on the House Appropriations Committee, where Cuellar is pushing for federal funding to provide counseling, peer support programs and crisis intervention for CBP staffers.

“The men and women in green, the men and women in blue, the other folks I see in my church, I say our kids go to schools, I see them at the grocery stores, are part of our communities. And we need to do everything that we need to do to help them,” Cuellar said.

One union official said increasing services is not enough, that more must be done to address the fear of being stigmatized for seeking help.

“Until we take out the fear of law enforcement coming forward and talking about their mental health issues. They’re never going to do it,” said Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council. “The thing that we constantly hear is that I don’t want to come to the agency and let them know, because I’m going to lose pay, I’m going to lose my law enforcement authority and everybody is going to know what’s going on.”

Customs and Border Protection officials say they are “increasingly dedicating resources” to support the workforces’ mental health and well-being, which includes hiring more on-site clinicians and psychologists who implement suicide prevention and intervention programs.