The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) is pleased to share that earlier today, Congress passed legislation that will provide GS-12 Border Patrol Agents (BPAs) with a significant increase in their overtime pay. This overtime pay legislation, drafted and ushered through Congress by the NBPC, was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 2670).

Over the past five years, the NBPC has worked tirelessly to educate and urge Congress to properly compensate frontline BPAs. Due to the hyper-partisan nature of Congress, previous bills have failed to get past that initial stage of the long and complex bipartisan procedural process.

Under the new legislation, GS-12 Border Patrol Agents will now be compensated an additional 50% of their hourly rate of basic pay when they work their Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform Act (BPAPRA) obligated overtime (hours 81-100 per pay period). This additional 50% of your hourly rate of basic pay or extra “half-time” pay for any hour(s) worked between 81-100 per pay period will be on top of your current basic rate of pay under the BPAPRA. This legislation makes no other changes to the BPAPRA.

The NBPC has worked closely with numerous Members of Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to increase the compensation of frontline BPAs over the past five years. We want frontline BPAs to know that the following specific Members deserve our utmost gratitude for their work with the NBPC to get this specific legislation enacted: Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Representative James Comer (R-KY), and Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX).

Now that the NDAA has passed both the House and Senate, it will be sent to President Biden for his signature. Based on currently available information, President Biden is expected to sign the NDAA into law, likely before the Christmas holiday. The NBPC will provide further updates once the NDAA is presented to the President for his signature. Additionally, we will provide future updates regarding Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) implementation of the additional overtime pay and when BPAs can expect to see this additional compensation in their paycheck.