http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s0217.html

U.S. Border Patrol seeks 500 agents
Arthur H. Rotstein
Associated Press
Feb. 17, 2007 12:00 AM

TUCSON - The U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector is planning to add 500 additional agents by September 2008 to reach its target of 3,100 agents along the segment of the Arizona-Mexico border that it oversees.

The increase is part of a nationwide push to add more than 6,000 agents to the Border Patrol's nearly 14,000-member force, Tucson sector Chief Michael Nicley said.

The plan was announced by President Bush last year and is designed to reign in illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexican border.

If it reaches its hiring goal, the Tucson sector would have more than twice the agents it had in July 2000. The sector, which stretches 260 miles along the Arizona-Mexico border, had nearly 1,500 agents then.

In 1996, the sector had just 702 agents, and in 1994, it had 300.

The Yuma sector to the west also has seen major expansion. It had about 300 agents in fiscal 2001 compared with its current 800 agents. The Yuma sector is expected to expand to 1,100 agents by September 2008, spokesman Albert Bosco said.

Tied in with the hiring surge is the temporary presence of National Guard troops in Arizona and the other three states bordering Mexico.

The soldiers are helping with non-law enforcement duties in order to free up agents for patrol duty. Some are concentrating on building fences, vehicle barriers, and roads, or installing cameras and lighting. Others work in communications, monitor cameras, repair vehicles, or man observation posts to watch for and report illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol.

Nicley said there are probably about 850 Guardsmen currently serving in the Tucson sector.

"We do need more agents than we have now, but the target number for the Tucson sector at this point is about 3,100," Nicley said.

The agency's recruiting efforts are focusing on major hiring events, including one Feb. 24 in Tucson, which will offer prospective agents the chance talk with recruiting agents and take a pretest as well as an official four-hour exam.

Nicley said competition with law enforcement and other federal agencies for top-rank recruits is keen.