Border Patrol Not Picky About New Hires

By Pamela Mortimer

In May 2006, President Bush determined that it was necessary to increase the border patrol by 50% in order to protect the U.S. from insurgents. Bush outlined a plan to up the number of border patrol agents from 12,000 to 18,000 by the end of 2008 and now the border patrol is scrambling for new hires.

The mandate for new guards has caused some big changes in the training programs for employees. Previously, new hires were required to complete four months of training. The Border Patrol Academy’s new training sessions last a mere ten weeks. Qualification tests and educational requirements have changed as well. The Border Patrol's website shows that the academy has waived the requirement that new hires possess a high school diploma or GED, plus passing grades for tests have been lowered from 85 to 70 percent. All of these factors have sent up red flags to the public who are concerned that the new recruits won’t have what it takes to do the job.

Richard Pierce, an executive vice president with the National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents 11,000 agents, said that the new guidelines don't allow time for proper training of new recruits.

"The field training program is largely computer-based ... it’s not the hands-on approach this job requires," Pierce said. "When they get in field, they don’t have the basic information required."

By October 1, approximately half of all Border Patrol agents will have less than two years of experience on the job, says Pierce. "So essentially, what we have is trainee agents teaching trainees out in the field."

Pierce also said that along with the youth factor, the agency could be contending with an older group of agents due to the change in age requirements. "The Border Patrol has raised its entry-level age from 37 to 40," he says, which would make for a retirement age of close to 60 for agents in the field. "This is not a job for a 60-year old, I can assure you," he says.

Incomplete background checks are also another area of concern. Pierce said the Border Patrol is utilizing private contractors where it once used the FBI.

"The Border Patrol is using contract employees right now to do background investigations, where it used to use FBI agents," Pierce said. "The contract program isn’t even finished before the employee is hired. We have employees in the academy who have not completed background checks."

Deputy Chief of Border Patrol Ronald Colburn doesn’t agree. "We’re doing a great job of both quality training of the personnel that we deploy and of checking on their backgrounds," he argues. "That said, does one or can one slip through the cracks, as they say? Yes."

Colburn concedes the new mandate presents some problems, including an increased number of youth. "When I surveyed the field ... and talked to the top leadership, what concerned them most, it really was the youthfulness and the inexperience that we were deploying into the field."