Thread: Govenors Blast Plan To Lure Away Border Agents

May 17, 2007

Governors blast plan to lure away border agents



Gov. Janet Napolitano is chiding the Bush administration for hiring a company to lure away Border Patrol officers to serve in Iraq.

[b]The governor, in a letter to the president, said it “makes no senseâ€

National Guard is planning to reduce the number of soldiers stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border beginning as early as July.

Do they plan on having our force multiplier (fence), all 700+ miles of it, built by July? I didn't think so!

I told ya, my husband was supposed to go to the Az border this summer with the National Guard, and now they aren't. Now they are supposed to be called up in Nov. for Afghanistan!

My husband is supposed to retire from the Guards in Jan. and with his service to this Country, Viet Nam, etc.....plus his health problems, he doesn't need to be shipped to Afghanistan...I'd rather he was on the border!

INVASION USA
U.S. border agents recruited for Iraq
Governors protest to Bush as officers lured overseas by six-figure salaries

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Posted: May 17, 2007
5:00 p.m. Eastern



© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano

The State Department is recruiting 120 Border Patrol agents to send to Iraq, prompting sharp criticism from two border-state governors who argue the U.S. needs more help on its own frontier.

In a letter to President Bush, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the move "makes no sense," the Tucson's Arizona Star reported.

"We should be focused on supporting our nation's security efforts along the Mexican and Canadian border instead of hampering CBP (Customs and Border Protection) by sending our best agents to a war zone in Iraq," the governors wrote.

The Star said DynCorp recruiters will be in Tucson today to offer agents $134,114 for a one-year contract, plus a $25,000 signing bonus. (Story continues below)


The criticism comes as the federal government prepares for a phase-down as early as July of National Guard troops stationed along the border.

The troops were deployed last year as part of Bush's "Operation Jump Start," which put them in a strictly supportive rule while new Border Patrol officers were hired and trained.

Capt. Kristine Munn told the Tucson paper about 2,400 Guard soldiers are in Arizona as part of the program. Beginning July 1, the troops will be reduced to about 1,200.

The Border Patrol said the number of trained agents in the Tucson Sector increased by about 100, from 2,500 when Operation Jump Start began.

Spokesman Jesus Rodriguez told the Star new agents are coming "all the time," but the governors contend it's not enough.

"We urge you to insist that the National Guard presence be maintained at current levels unless and until the Border Patrol is staffed sufficiently to replace Guard troops on a one-to-one basis," the governors wrote.

Prior to Tucson, the DynCorp recruiters made stops in Laredo, Texas, and Tampa, Fla. They will be in Miami Friday.

The company says successful applicants, who need four years experience, will go to Iraq to provide training, technical assistance and mentoring to officers of the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement.




http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=55752

Customs and Border Protection Agents Here Are In Demand Elsewhere

May 17, 2007 11:08 PM PDT


By J.D. Wallace, KOLD News 13 Reporter

The men and women who protect our border are in demand to teach Iraqi agents how to protect their borders.

The hiring drive prompted Governor Janet Napolitano and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to write the President:

"... at a time when violence is once again flaring up on our own border, it makes no sense for the United States State Department to empower a company to hire away as many as 120 veteran Border Patrol agents to serve as mentors to train Iraqis to guard their border."

That company is DynCorp, and a DynCorp employee at a recruiting drive in Tucson on Thursday directed comment to his headquarters. The calls have yet to be returned. A Border Patrol agent who showed up to enquire about the job refused to talk about why he was there.

Those who showed up on Thursday had a chance to as a person questions about the job, which can pay up to $134,114 for one year in Iraq, with a $25,000 signing bonus. But the competition is nothing new for the Border Patrol.

"We understand that a lot of other agencies would like to recruit Border Patrol agents for their agency, and it's something that has happened in the past and we expect to happen in the future," said Agent Jim Hawkins with the Tucson sector of the U.S. Border Patrol.

But Napolitano and Richardson aren't so open to the idea, and wrote, "We should be focused on supporting our nation's security efforts along the Mexican and Canadian border instead of hampering CBP(Customs and Border Protection) by sending our best agents to a war zone in Iraq."

A year in that country will pay at least twice or three times what some Border Patrol agents make. But what agents don't make in money, Hawkins said that they get it in job security.

"It's a lot of money," he said. "But we would like to emphasize it's only one year, there's no guarantee after that. We offer a 20 year career."

Also, the Border Patrol is not the sole focus of the recruiting effort. All of Customs and Border Protection is eligible. Agents at our ports of entry could go to Iraq to train agents for that type of work there.

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=6533868&nav=14RT