Answering call to guard borders

March 9, 2008

U.S. Border Patrol urges Charlotte-area residents to work for agency
DAVID PERLMUTT

Garrett Foley of Shelby was a Marine for four years -- and among the first to cross the border into Iraq after war broke out 2003.

Discharged for two years, he's grown antsy to do work that would protect the country.

That yearning is what brought Foley and dozens of others to an uptown hotel Saturday, where a team of U.S. Border Patrol agents urged them to go to work on the southern and northern borders.

After watching a video of border agents in Humvees, all-terrain vehicles and on horses, and using dogs and night-vision goggles to hunt down drug smugglers, Foley, 25, was ready to sign up.

"My job in the Marines was to protect America, so I might as well keep doing it," he said. "I've always wanted to be in some type of law enforcement -- so this seems like a good fit."

First he'll have to take an entrance test later this month.

But he's exactly the type the Border Patrol is looking for -- patriotic Americans who enjoy physical work outdoors, said agent Katherine Thibeault.

"We love former military and law enforcement," she said. "They're ready to go and already trained in weapons. They don't mind traveling, because they've already been doing that.

"They have a good mind-set for the job."

To get hired, potential agents must be a U.S. citizen between 18 and 40, have a driver's license and a high school education, and no felony convictions.

And they must love the outdoors.

"It's a very physical job, a lot of running and jumping over fences," Thibeault said. "I've ripped a bunch of pants in my 10 years."

Over the past two years, the Border Patrol -- the agency responsible for guarding 8,000 miles of U.S. border and coastal ports -- has been under a call by President Bush to expand its number of agents to 18,000. About 15,000, 5 percent of them women, now serve.

So the agency has gradually moved away from border towns to recruit agents. It has set up recruiting stations at universities, football and baseball games and NASCAR races. And last year, it sponsored a stock car in the Busch Series.

"One of our biggest problems in places away from border towns is that people tend not to know what we do," Thibeault said. "So we're bringing our message to you guys."

As evidence of its effectiveness, the patrol points to numbers from last October and November, when agents arrested 97,167 illegal immigrants and seized 273,271 pounds of marijuana and 2,053 ounces of cocaine.

Dan Anderson of Concord heard the call.

He's finishing a criminal justice degree at UNC Charlotte and came to Saturday's job fair at his father's urging.

"I am trying to find something more than just local law enforcement," said Anderson, 30. "I want something that's meaningful and fulfilling.

"Protecting the country would be very fulfilling."

Jennifer Choate of Salisbury comes from a military family. She spent two years in the Army.

She grew up on a farm in Maine, riding horses and doing physical work.

Now she's a loan processor for a mortgage company, sitting behind a desk.

"Being outside and active appeals to me," said Choate, 23. "And defending my country was something instilled in me at a young age."

http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/528902.html