Mr. Dassaro is an advanced level Subject Matter Expert (SME) employee and labor relations practitioner with over 36 years of federal and other public sector experience.  He is also a former Senior United States Border Patrol Agent (USBP Class 252) and federal union labor leader. This experience provides a deep and diverse professional and academic background. Most recently, he served as a Senior National Level (HQ) Lead Employee Labor Relations Consultant and Analyst at a prominent and very large federal department. In this role, he provided consultative, analytical, and transactional services to both frontline and executive-level managers and leadership personnel, including Senior Executive Service (SES) and political appointees.  In addition to his experience, Mr. Dassaro's expertise in federal and public personnel matters includes academic credentials (B.A. in Labor Studies and M.A. in Legal and Ethical Studies).

 

Notably, Mr. Dassaro was the recipient of twenty-one consecutive outstanding performance ratings and numerous awards, across multiple federal agencies and rating officials, in the Executive Career Field (ECF) and as a Senior Employee and Labor Relations Specialist. He holds ten consecutive annual outstanding performance ratings as ELR Chief in the Executive Career Field (ECF) performance evaluation program and twelve consecutive annual outstanding performance ratings as a Senior ELR Specialist. He is recognized as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in federal personnel administrative law and administration. His significant experience includes third-party proceedings involving various agencies, such as the MSPB, EEOC, FLRA, FSIP, and OSC. He has also provided expert testimony in numerous administrative, criminal, and civil proceedings as well as appearing in the Congressional Record as a union official. 

 

As a U.S. Border Patrol Agent, Mr. Dassaro served in the San Diego Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol and was a prominent figure known for his long-standing and aggressive leadership within the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), specifically as the longtime President of NBPC Local 1613 (San Diego), the largest local union representing federal law enforcement officers. His role in San Diego was defined by his tenure as a high-profile whistleblower and union leader. As the union president, he became the face of internal resistance against the government's official narrative of border security in the late 1990s. During the late 1990s, Mr. Dassaro was a vocal critic of how Operation Gatekeeper (the 1994 strategic plan to secure the San Diego border) was being managed.  This criticism resulted in a large scale investigation by the Department of Justice. While the Inspector General’s 1998 report acknowledged "problems with the way statistics were compiled," it ultimately concluded there was no widespread conspiracy to "fix" the numbers. In 2001, he championed a $1 million lawsuit on behalf of agents who claimed they were retaliated against for criticizing the agency, arguing that supervisors had conducted "unauthorized surveillance" of agents' private free speech.  The Department of Justice settled this lawsuit.  Mr. Dassaro remained active in immigration and border security policy through the mid-2000s, often testifying against measures like California’s SB-60 (driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants), which he described as a threat to national security. He also appeared in the documentary Green Cards for al Qaeda by filmmaker Surya Iacono. Mr. Dassaro was also responsible for spearheading implementation of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) Legal Defense Fund (LDF) to provide duty related legal coverage for U.S. Border Patrol Agents.