Thread: New Outreach to Blacks as Border Patrol Grows

June 23, 2008
New Outreach to Blacks as Border Patrol Grows
By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
MEMPHIS — Nearly 1,500 miles from his post at the Mexican border, Cyril V. Atherton, a Border Patrol agent, embarked on one of his trickiest missions.

He was here recruiting young blacks to an agency few had ever heard of, trying to entice them to the hot, arid Southwest, where few blacks live, for a job that requires learning Spanish proficient enough to know if their lives are in danger while arresting as many as 100 people at a time.

Any questions?

“I’m just thinking about the snakes,â€

what does this picture of sammy has to do with this subject sir? can you elaborate please to this "american" that happens to be black?

U.S. Border Patrol recruiting black agents
Published: June 23, 2008 at 8:26 AMOrder reprints | Print Story | Email
MEMPHIS, June 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Border Patrol says it's aggressively recruiting young blacks in an effort to fill its ranks and change its culture.

The nation's biggest federal law enforcement agency is looking to beef up its ranks to from 16,200 to 18,000 agents but only 1 percent of its roster is black, The New York Times reported Monday. To add diversity the agency launched a recruiting blitz in cities such as Memphis aimed at convincing black youngsters they should sign up for duty in the U.S. Southwest, where there is little in the way of black culture.

Border Patrol officials told the newspaper they have no set quotas for black recruits but admits it has only 158 black agents. The recruiters are emphasizing that service with the Border Patrol doesn't require a college degree or even a high school diploma and can pay $70,000 after just a few years.

The union representing the agents, however, suspects the Border Patrol is lowering its quality standards to fill its ranks.

"It's one thing to get to 18,000," union head T.J. Bonner told the Times. "It's another to sustain it with quality people."

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http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/23/ ... 214223999/