CBPJames F. Tomscheck forced disabled veteran from CBP IA – Pt. 2
While the details and implications of President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms continue to be closely scrutinized, an unprecedented scandal unfolds within the federal agency charged with providing security and control at our Mexican border. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), a law enforcement agency of 65,000 employees, is potentially facing alarming charges fostered by its former assistant director of Customs and Border Protection Internal Affairs (CBP IA), James F. Tomscheck. Tomscheck, who turned federal whistleblower last summer, lambasted his superiors with multiple accusations. Allegations, however, have arisen against Tomscheck that he knowingly discriminated against a disabled military veteran within CBP IA, then fired him.
Robert Lee Maril. East Carolina Unversity // Source: ecu.edu
While the details and implications of President Barack Obama’s immigration reforms continue to be closely scrutinized, an unprecedented scandal unfolds within the federal agency charged with providing security and control at our Mexican border. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), a law enforcement agency of 65,000 employees, is potentially facing alarming charges fostered by its former assistant director of Customs and Border Protection Internal Affairs (CBP IA), James F. Tomscheck.
Tomscheck, who turned federal whistleblower last summer, lambasted his superiors with multiple accusations. Allegations, however, have arisen against Tomscheck that he knowingly discriminated against a disabled military veteran within CBP IA, then fired him. These specific allegations suggest broader problems at CBP IA for which Tomscheck, and those he handpicked to join in positions of leadership, may be accountable. At the same time such allegations may offer a broader context in which Tomscheck’s own charges against agents in the field and specific leadership within the Department of Homeland Security might be more fully understood and considered.
J. Gregory Richardson, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy (Retired) with almost thirty years of military service, alleges that while serving as a Senior Security Analyst at CBP IA, his supervisors repeatedly ignored his status as a disabled veteran, causing his medical status to deteriorate. When he no longer could endure the pain caused by their failure to accommodate his disability, and in consequence was absent from work, they successfully fired him (see Robert Lee Maril, “Vet alleges supervisors at CBP IA ignored his disability: ‘He Just needed an ounce of compassion’ — Pt. 1,” HSNW, 28 October 2014).
In addition to Tomscheck, these managers specifically include Janene Marie Corrado and Jeffrey M. Matta.
Tomscheck, in his position as Assistant Commissioner at CBP IA, was the senior official in charge of CBP IA during which time Richardson alleges he was actively discriminated against as a disabled veteran and subsequently dismissed.
In June 2014, after eight years of service at CBP IA, Tomscheck sought protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (he currently remains a CBP employee). Tomscheck has accused Customs and Border Protection of “institutional narcissism” and maintaining an agency culture that allowed its agents to act beyond “constitutional constraints.”
