Thread: Border Patrol hosting national recruitment event in San Anto

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Border Patrol hosting national recruitment event in San Antonio
San Antonio Business Journal - 5:11 PM CST Monday Dec 11, 2006
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has selected San Antonio to be one of the sites for a national recruitment effort aimed at hiring 6,000 new Border Patrol agents over the next two years.

The federal agency's human resource office will hold a recruiting event in San Antonio on Dec. 16 for people interested in a career with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Customs and Border Protection is stepping up its national recruitment efforts in response to President Bush's announcement back in May to hire additional agents to replace National Guard troops currently stationed along the border.

Recruiters will be on hand to look for candidates who can pass a written examination, a structured interview, medical examination, drug test, physical fitness test and a national security background investigation. Applicants also have to be foreign language proficient.

Those selected will complete a 17-week basic training course at the Border Patrol academy in Artesia, N.M. Beginning salaries can start at $35,000 and agents have the potential of earnings upwards of $50,000.

Border Patrol agents are needed to work in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

The event will be held at the Crossroads Convention Center at Crossroads Mall. It will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Applicants can register for the event online at www.cbp.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the agency within Homeland Security that manages, controls and protects the nation's borders and official ports of entry.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 11-ON.html

National Guard members see career path in Border Patrol

Mike Madden
Gannett News Service
Dec. 11, 2006 03:43 PM


WASHINGTON - As the U.S. Border Patrol seeks thousands of new agents, authorities are finding recruits from a captive audience - the National Guard.

Guard members from around the United States have been heading to Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas for two-week rotations since President Bush deployed them to back up the Border Patrol last spring. The soldiers were intended to be a temporary stopgap until the Border Patrol adds new agents.

But some troops are applying to join the Border Patrol in their civilian lives once their rotations end. The current class at the Border Patrol's academy in Artesia, N.M., includes three trainees who served with the Guard at the border earlier this year, and officials say scores of other Guard troops have put in applications for when they return to civilian life.

An exact count isn't available because the recruiting among Guard members isn't a formal program. Neither the Pentagon nor the Border Patrol are tracking how many apply.

"I've seen a number of guardsmen, just in the course of conversation, look at an agent and say, Well, what's it take to become one of you guys?' because they're encouraged and inspired by the work," said Army National Guard Sgt. Ed Balaban, a spokesman for the Guard's Border Patrol support mission in Tucson, Ariz. "We're all wearing the uniform for similar reasons."

For the Border Patrol, which aims to add 6,000 new agents by 2008 for a total force of 18,000, recruits from the Guard could be crucial. Interest has been high enough that recruiters have been asked to make presentations to soldiers stationed at the border in several Border Patrol sectors.

"That's the difficult part - not the number of applicants but getting the applicant that is qualified," said senior patrol agent Maria Valencia, a national recruiter for the Border Patrol in Washington who served six years in the Army before joining.

She said people with military backgrounds are prime applicants: "We have that discipline that's required."

Many National Guard members who aren't full-time soldiers already work in law enforcement jobs when off duty. Depending on their military specialties and length of service, they could start at a higher pay grade than other entry-level agents. Any Border Patrol agents who still have outstanding Guard obligations must serve when called up.

In addition to recruiting from the National Guard, Border Patrol officials have launched a national outreach effort, devoting agents full-time in each of their 20 sectors to recruiting, running ads in theaters before movies start and putting fliers up around the country.

The agency also raised its maximum age for new agents from 37 to 38, hoping to catch career military personnel leaving the armed services after 20 years on active duty. Border Patrol recruiters may attend job seminars for troops heading back to civilian life and distribute recruiting material on military posts.

Critics say the Border Patrol must not relax standards while hiring new agents. Three Border Patrol agents were convicted of involvement in smuggling last year after internal Department of Homeland Security investigations.

"It's a matter of concern, some of the recruiting tactics that are being employed," said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union for about 11,000 rank-and-file agents.

He doesn't object to recruiting among the military or Guard but said putting fliers up haphazardly isn't helpful.

"Certainly they're under the gun to bring people on board, but the country is not served well when you bring the wrong people on board," Bonner said.

The union wants authorities to pay agents better, as well, which Bonner said could help recruiting. Government officials say Border Patrol salaries, which start at between $35,000 and $40,000 per year, are competitive with other law enforcement agencies.

with the uncertain fate of two BP agents who are going to jail for doing their job, why would anyone want to be an agent knowing that the federal government can turn on you in a heart beat and stab you in the back?

Originally Posted by jamesw62

with the uncertain fate of two BP agents who are going to jail for doing their job, why would anyone want to be an agent knowing that the federal government can turn on you in a heart beat and stab you in the back?

Just what I was thinking, before I would jump on that bandwagon I would have to think about what might happen to me in that job! Better to be a cop, they seem to get away with anything!

Government officials say Border Patrol salaries, which start at between $35,000 and $40,000 per year, are competitive with other law enforcement agencies.

I have an idea...let's decrease our politicians' salaries and increase the BP pay. Give it to someone who is actually working for the citizens of the US.

Originally Posted by Neese

Government officials say Border Patrol salaries, which start at between $35,000 and $40,000 per year, are competitive with other law enforcement agencies.

I have an idea...let's decrease our politicians' salaries and increase the BP pay. Give it to someone who is actually working for the citizens of the US.

That's a great idea Neese but since the politicians vote for their own salaries we're up a creek on this idea.
Yes, the BP should be paid more especially for hazardous duty and they need the morale boost.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/ ... 66891.html

Border Patrol opens online registration to hire 6,000 agents

Web Posted: 12/13/2006 05:40 PM CST

Joe Conger
KENS 5 Eyewitness News

On Friday, border agents confiscated more than $1 million of heroin. The next day, they rescued a Salvadoran woman with a broken leg who was abandoned by smugglers.

And on any given day, along the 1,900 miles of U.S.-Mexico border, a traveler, somewhere is detained for terrorism concerns.

"Their job is nothing less than to stop all threats at the border, from entering our country and becoming crimes," said Carlos Carillo, chief patrol agent.

If you are a U.S. citizen, under 40, physically fit and have a valid state drivers license, you can apply to protect the border.

Recruiters must hire 6,000 new agents by 2008 as part of $236 million anti-terrorism legislative package. National Guard troops are filling in the gaps until agents are hired.

"We need more personnel, more technology, more infrastructure. and this is just one part of the comprehensive approach to border security," Carillo said.

Agents have a starting salary of about $35,000 a year, complete with benefits and they can list a preference for their geographical assignment.

"They do get heavily involved in debriefing and processing people who are detained or arrested. They are involved in narcotics surveillance interdictions," Carillo said.

On Saturday applicants can take an entrance exam at the Crossroads Mall. Before Saturday, you have to begin the registration process on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Web site.