Hundreds attend fair for Border Patrol jobs


By Robert Channick
Special to the Tribune

June 17, 2007

Hoping to bolster its ranks along the Mexican border, the U.S. Border Patrol held a job fair Saturday in Rosemont, the agency's first such event in the Chicago area.

It was part of a series of job fairs across the country sponsored by the Border Patrol, which is seeking 6,000 new recruits as the debate over immigration policy continues. The agency currently employs about 12,000 agents.

Drawn by everything from a love of the outdoors to a base salary of $45,000, several hundred people heeded the call Saturday to become border patrol agents, lining up before 7 a.m. at the Stephens Convention Center.

"I'm looking for a change, and this would be a drastic change," said Frances Trinidad, 36, of Schaumburg, who works as a billing administrator for Xerox. "I'm a Latino female, and I do speak Spanish, so I would be able to relate to and communicate with whoever is trying to get in."

The Border Patrol, established in 1924 and part of the Department of Homeland Security since 2003, began holding hiring events December in San Antonio, Dallas and Detroit, among other cities. After Chicago, the agency will head east in search of new recruits, visiting Buffalo and Philadelphia next month.

About 45,000 people have applied this year for jobs within the agency, a 25 percent increase over last year's pace, said Joe Arata, recruitment manager for the east region of the Department of Homeland Security.

More important, with a rigorous vetting process that weeds out the vast majority of applicants, the quality of candidates at the events has been strong, Arata said.

"You come here, there's a pretty good chance you're serious about being a border patrol agent," Arata said.

After sifting through handouts and watching a 13-minute video, applicants prepared for a required written exam, which will be given June 30 at the Palmer House in Chicago. After a fitness test, medical exam, drug test, interview and background check, candidates must complete five months of paid training at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, N.M. Only one in 12 make it through the entire process, but attendees at Saturday's event could find themselves patrolling the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, California or Texas by next spring, Arata said.

Brenda Wojowski, 32, a bartender and criminal justice student from Homer Glen, said her work experience would be good preparation for becoming a border patrol agent.

"As a bartender, you have to handle a lot of very difficult people and situations," she said. "I know this is completely different, but it has some applicability."

Nick Goumas, 29, a navy veteran and custom motorcycle builder from Des Plaines, had thought about trying out for the border patrol but never figured the agency would come to Chicago.

"I thought you had to know somebody that knows somebody to do that," he said.

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