Thread: Federal government hopes to add about 11,000 Border Patrol w

Focus: Federal government hopes to add about 11,000 Border Patrol workers in near future
By Daniel Connolly

Sunday, March 22, 2009

While corporate America is rapidly shedding jobs during the recession, government is bucking the trend, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The federal agency that seizes shipments of illegal drugs and stops migrants from unlawfully entering the country is hiring thousands of workers.

Hundreds of job seekers attended a border patrol recruiting event Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Downtown.

The agency hopes to hire about 11,000 people in the near future, including border agents, officers to work in airports and other entry points around the country, and support staffers ranging from accountants to mechanics to pilots, spokeswoman Tara Dunlop said.

Those accepted as border agents will go through training in New Mexico. All recruits must either show proficiency in Spanish or take an intensive language course before being assigned to a sector along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The new agents will arrive at a precarious time: violence has spiked as drug cartels fight each other and the Mexican government for control of smuggling routes. The rash of violence has spilled into U.S. cities like Phoenix, where kidnappings have become common.

Drug-related violence killed 6,290 people last year and more than 1,000 so far this year, most of them in Mexico, according to The Associated Press.

Despite the dangers from well-armed criminals, government is one of the few areas of the economy that's still growing, and the border patrol's promise of salaries ranging from $36,000 to $46,000 to start with the potential to earn up to $70,000 within three years of service is likely to attract a lot of attention at a time of widespread job cuts.

In addition to dealing with drug smugglers, border agents will also be expected to slow illegal immigration, a phenomenon that's taken a back seat at the national level as the Obama administration focuses on issues like the economy and health care.

There are some questions about the policy of hiring so many border agents.

Pro-immigrant advocacy groups such as the National Council of La Razahave said protecting the border is necessary, but isn't enough to deal with the nation's immigration problem -- they say Congress should pass a comprehensive bill that improves the immigration system and gives illegal immigrants already here a shot at legal status.

A representative from the group was unavailable for comment.

The government has historically focused more attention on stopping migrants at the border than on deporting illegal immigrants already here, and there have been few immigration sweeps in Memphis in recent years.

The border patrol's heavy hiring reflects political realities, say observers like Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that calls for stricter immigration enforcement at the border and in the interior of the country.

"The pressure that businesses put on congressmen when the law is enforced is one of the reasons border patrol is more attractive," he said. "Because when you detain someone who's crossing the border, you're not shutting anyone's business down. Even if he's heading to his dishwashing job in Chicago, he's not in that job yet."

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This is so great!!

Everyone needs to post this on their local forums and websites and let their families and friends know about these job opportunities. This is great honorable exciting work that pays pretty good looks to me, plus you'd have all types of great federal benefits, health insurance, paid vacation and sick leave, 13 annual holidays, and really good retirement.

the "snitch" in the ramos and Compean case is an instructor in New Mexico

Originally Posted by jamesw62

the "snitch" in the ramos and Compean case is an instructor in New Mexico

That turd needs to be brought up on charges of some kind. What a loser!!