Thread: So you really want to be a Border Patrol agent?

http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/02/ ... news03.txt

Sunday FEBRUARY 25, 2007
Last modified:
Saturday, February 24, 2007 10:54 PM MST

By Adrienne Mackey
The U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector held a Hiring Event Saturday to find some of the 500 new agents the agency hopes to gain by September 2008.

This mass hiring is going on nationwide and is in response to a plan announced by President Bush last year to add more than 6,000 agents to the nearly 14,000-member force.

“This is the first of 18 planned hiring events,” Joseph Battaglia, U.S. Customs and Border Protection national recruitment coordinator for the West region, said. “We’re going to Detroit in March and we have plans to host an event in New York.”

There are currently around 850 National Guardsmen stationed along the border, helping with non-law enforcement duties in order to free up agents for patrol duty, according to AP reports.

“As we gain more agents, we hope to be completely self-sufficient in the near future,” said Battaglia.

Battaglia and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Director Joe Abbott expected anywhere from 200-300 potential applicants to show up to take a pre-test.

Those who pass that short exam can move on to take the four-hour Border Patrol Agent Exam, which consists of logic and reasoning questions and tests an applicant’s language aptitude.

The ability to learn a new language is imperative because all agents must become fluent in Spanish.

“About 40 percent of applicants fail the BPA,” Abbott said. “They can come back and try again after six months.”

What is the Border Patrol looking for in a potential agent? The recruitment flier said you must: Be a U.S. citizen, have a valid state driver’s license, be physically fit, and be under the age of 40. And if you pass the BPA exam, you must also pass a background investigation, drug test, medical and physical examinations—though applicants are not subject to a psychological examination.

“What we’re trying to gain from the tests is to see if the applicant can handle the rigorous duties that go along with being an agent,” Abbott said.

Juan Delgado, 20, of Nogales, is already a reserve with the U.S. Marines, and is considering becoming an agent.

“The opportunity seems exciting, and it’s a good thing to help keep drugs out of the country,” Delgado said.

Border Patrol Agent Anthony Macias has been with the agency since 2002.

“I wanted to do law enforcement, and this ended up being the right fit with the stability, benefits and the pay,” Macias said. “I love this job because the work is good and everyday brings something new—and our office is outdoors.”

Eric Sparks, 27, who served with the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper, was at the event weighing his options against accepting a lucrative contract with Halliburton to work in the Green Zone in Iraq.

“In the near future there will be a big push for more homeland security, and a lot of funding will become available here,” Sparks said. “If I do stay here and work for the patrol, it will add a lot to my federal benefits.”

After passing the myriad of tests and questioning by an oral review board the candidate is eligible to attend the Border Patrol’s five-month training academy.

“We have to look at every person closely because we’re going to give them a badge, gun and important law enforcement duties,” Abbott said. “The public trusts us and we must keep that trust.”

In 1994, there were 300 agents protecting the 260 miles along the Arizona-Mexico border, in ‘96 there were 702 agents on the force, and there were 1,500 in 2000 —the agency ultimately hopes to end up with 3,100 agents as a result of the hiring push.

Starting salaries for new agents are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, and agents in service three years have earning potential above $70,000.

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One comment left at the time this was posted:

"The DHS doesn't want the border enforced. Ask Ramos and Compean in their prison cells about that. This administration wants to facilitate drugs and illegal aliens into our country for their benefits. Think again about becoming a BP agent."

on June 17, 1954, what was called "Operation ........" began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.

By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.

By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.

Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.


And it didnt cost the tax payers one dollar more .
If 750 could do it then then 14,000 can do it today in half the time and half the money but with many times the resitence. I believe that the puplic has called agian for this

They hope to get 500. We'll see!
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http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/43166.php

Published: 02.27.2007
Border agent job fair attracts 220
Half-hour pretest was harder than he had expected, trucker says
CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen
From military members to truck drivers, about 220 people showed up last weekend to see if they have what it takes to become a U.S. Border Patrol agent.
In response to President Bush's directive to hire 6,000 more agents by the end of 2008, the agency's Tucson sector hosted a job fair Saturday at the Hilton Tucson East, 7600 E. Broadway. It was one of several events across the country where recruitment officers made on-the-spot job offers to qualified applicants.
Roy Tapia, 32, a truck driver from Gilbert, said he's been looking to move into law enforcement for the past four years. He took a half-hour pre-test designed to give him a sense of how he would do on the full test. It was harder than he expected.
"It makes me respect Border Patrol agents a lot more," he said.
Tapia said he supports the agency's mission to protect the border, but he thinks the majority of those who cross are like his great-grandparents, who left Mexico for the United States to find work.
"I'm sympathetic to their problems," he said. "That's why we're here. We're trying to improve our lives."
Around 220 people attended the job fair, said agent Kevin Doughty, head of recruitment for the Border Patrol's Tucson sector. Of those who took the test, 45 percent passed and were offered positions. Normally, 30 percent to 40 percent pass.
"We're very pleased with the outcome," Doughty said.
The Border Patrol has hired 50 full-time recruiters nationwide who stress the job's benefits. With overtime, high school graduates can earn $45,000 their first year. After four years, they can make more than $70,000.
The job fairs are designed to trim the application process to four months from six months, Doughty said. Applicants had to pass a four-hour admissions exam on logical reasoning and must speak Spanish or learn it.
Next month, recruiters will hold another fair where those who were offered jobs will undergo in-depth interviews, background checks, medical checkups and fitness exams.
Sandra Diaz, 29, a medical technician at Luke Air Force Base, wanted to find out more about being a Border Patrol agent.
"The Border Patrol has a lot to offer women," agent and recruiter Michelle Chacon told her. "You can make a good living and provide for your family."
The five-month training academy features rigorous physical training, so "when you come out of there you are going to have a sense of pride about what you do, because the academy is not easy," Chacon said.
Alex Stanley, 32, a sergeant in the Tennessee National Guard, has done four tours in Iraq as a combat medic. He's been building vehicle barriers in Nogales with Operation Jump Start since November. Bush ordered the Guard to the border last summer.
Stanley said he got the idea to apply from Border Patrol agents he's met.
"You want to work with guys that you can trust," Stanley said. "The guys down there we trust completely with our lives. They'll take care of us as much as we'll take care of them. And that's what you want."

$45,000 their first year. After four years, they can make more than $70,000

Gee all that, for doing a job that has to be done, and no taking squat, with abuse from drug dealers thieves, child molesters, murders, mobsters, gang crony’s, rapists, and just think some will never see any of that money cause they’ll get a free trip to prison because the did the job, by stepping to line and saying stop or ill shoot, or halt turn around go back.

In this posters expert opinion, that’s a little low for protection of the United States of America, and it laws.
It makes me sick to think the stating pay for a mans life can priced at $40,000, I would like to see a couple of the larger then life Teddy Kennedy’s do the job they have for chump change.

I propose for a time, we allow John and Jane P public a moment or two, to collect some reward money, (for the and lets say simple, the capture and return) and lets elevate some of the, BeeeeeP……. And I meant to say BeeeeeP….. That’s getting passed our under paid boarder guards.
Ill split my families half for the boarder fence.

People of America. It’s your family they are protecting. your future, not theres. Its the American dream and American values they are protecting, not a line on the ground.