Thread: U.S. Falters in Screening Border Patrol Near Mexico

U.S. Falters in Screening Border Patrol Near Mexico

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD
Published: March 11, 2010

Federal anticorruption investigators continue to struggle to keep up with the screening of newly hired United States law enforcement officers working on the Mexican border and have fallen far behind in checking current employees as well, federal officials testified on Thursday.

The testimony came during a hearing in Washington before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on rising corruption among the ranks of federal law enforcement officers who patrol the border and guard ports of entry.

Representatives from the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security painted a grave picture of drug trafficking organizations trying to recruit federal officers to work for them and infiltrate the ranks.

Although the vast majority of officers do not betray their jobs, the corruption problem, said Kevin L. Perkins, an F.B.I. agent who helps supervise corruption investigations, “is significantly pervasive.â€

Related
Mexican Cartels Corrupting US Border Agents
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-190874-.html

Mexican cartels target feds at the border
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Associated Press
March 11, 2010, 3:11PM

McALLEN — Mexican drug cartels are infiltrating federal law enforcement agencies along the southwest border and those charged with weeding them out say they don’t have the money to catch all the corrupt agents, homeland security officials told a U.S. Senate panel Thursday.

James Tomsheck, assistant commissioner with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Internal Affairs, told a Senate homeland security subcommittee in Washington that only about one in 10 of the new hires for agency jobs are given polygraph tests, and of those, 60 percent are deemed unsuitable for employment.

That means that many who joined the agency during the recent hiring boom and did not take polygraphs could have joined with corruption already in mind, Tomsheck said.

“That 60 percent number is alarming to me,â€

FBI: Agents fight corruption on border
Published: March. 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM


WASHINGTON, March 11 (UPI) -- The FBI has focused its anti-corruption efforts on the U.S.-Mexico border, a top official told a Senate committee Thursday.

Kevin L. Perkins, assistant director of the criminal investigative division, testified before a subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He said 120 of the 700 agents involved in anti-corruption investigations are assigned to the Southwest border.

Perkins said those agents, working with the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, are getting results. In 2009 he said there were more than 100 arrests and 130 state and federal criminal cases.

In one case, Perkins said, agents determined a border inspector had sought the job in order to make money from drug trafficking. The inspector was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to import more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana.

After another investigation, government employees working for 12 state, federal and local agencies were charged with drug trafficking, he said, with 84 guilty pleas so far.

The FBI has also been working with Mexican police he said. The office in McAllen, Texas, recently held a week of training in everything from ethics to firearms for 30 Mexican officers.

www.upi.com

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-5006--0-0.html

Surprise! Surprise! C'mon. This is no surprise. This is totally to be expected when you have agents prowling these desolate territories, doing this disgusting work of having to face off with rattlesnakes, reptile and human, every day of your lives, only to have the government tell you every day of your job that these people aren't a threat, that without these people our economy would collapse, that these people are just looking for a better life, doing the jobs Americans won't do, we're a nation of immigrants, blah, blah, blah. Then they see billions of dollars of drugs coming in and money going out .... I'm telling you, you can not stop illegal immigration until we legalize/regulate/tax under the FairTax the illegal drug trade.

And what happens to all that confiscated drug stuff anyway? Drug confiscations worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year? Puleeze.

Legalize the drug trade America and shut these foreign cartels down with the greatest force ever invented ... competition. If Americans are allowed to run their own trade a to z US citizens only ... they'll shut these violent monsters down with the chink of a cash register ... no guns required ... in 12 months or less. Now we can secure the borders because drug money isn't being handed out to these illegal aliens to pay smugglers to get them in to run the drugs ... work by day .. run drugs by night.

For more information on why we should end the War on Drugs and end this racist futile pointless prohibition and do it now:

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)

www.leap.cc

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Judy, thank you for your comments regarding the Border Patrol. I have worked for USBP for almost two years down in San Diego. It really is a thankless job... Almost everyone we catch just gets sent back down to Mexico free of charge. Corruption is rampant in any large law enforcement agency. I think it is bad with the Border Patrol though because they tend to hire Spanish speaking agents that have family and friends living illegally in the US, or have friends/family in Mexico that are dying to come here. They even hire people that came to the US illegally as children with their parents but were later naturalized as United States citizens (USCs). But for every bad apple there are thousands that are let down when we hear of their wrongdoings. Even though the government doesn't take us seriously, we still take our jobs seriously.

Originally Posted by mepdblue

Judy, thank you for your comments regarding the Border Patrol. I have worked for USBP for almost two years down in San Diego. It really is a thankless job... Almost everyone we catch just gets sent back down to Mexico free of charge. Corruption is rampant in any large law enforcement agency. I think it is bad with the Border Patrol though because they tend to hire Spanish speaking agents that have family and friends living illegally in the US, or have friends/family in Mexico that are dying to come here. They even hire people that came to the US illegally as children with their parents but were later naturalized as United States citizens (USCs). But for every bad apple there are thousands that are let down when we hear of their wrongdoings. Even though the government doesn't take us seriously, we still take our jobs seriously.

Welcome mepdblue! You have touched on several issues that I have been concerned with. Anchor babies who become border patrol agents bring unique concerns to the table, for some of the very reasons you have stated. The potential for corruption and undue influence by family members still living in mexico or the US illegally would seem to be very real concerns. At the end of the day, are they going to side with this country or their family? Seemingly, it's creating a situation that is ripe for criminal activity.

Let me ask you, when you go through application process, don't they ask any questions about parents or other family members? Do they know if a BPA has family members living illegally in the United States? It would seem to the layman to be relevant.

Finally, all of us here at ALIPAC appreciate everything the rank and file members of the BP do for this country. It's not your fault our government places such a low priority on securing that border.

Thank you for everything!

Originally Posted by mepdblue

Judy, thank you for your comments regarding the Border Patrol. I have worked for USBP for almost two years down in San Diego. It really is a thankless job... Almost everyone we catch just gets sent back down to Mexico free of charge. Corruption is rampant in any large law enforcement agency. I think it is bad with the Border Patrol though because they tend to hire Spanish speaking agents that have family and friends living illegally in the US, or have friends/family in Mexico that are dying to come here. They even hire people that came to the US illegally as children with their parents but were later naturalized as United States citizens (USCs). But for every bad apple there are thousands that are let down when we hear of their wrongdoings. Even though the government doesn't take us seriously, we still take our jobs seriously.

You're most welcome mepdblue. I have the greatest respect, admiration and appreciation for our US Border Patrol. I know how hard it must be to do this job, which is so important to the people of the United States, while the government you work for tells you the opposite.

The job of the US Border Patrol is one of the single most important jobs in the United States. You defend our country. You protect our citizens. You preserve our sovereignty. Without you and the work you do, our nation would dissolve in less than 24 months. Spread the word through USBP ... you are vital to our country's existence, your work is appreciated by the people you serve more than words can convey, and these stupid traitors in our government will soon be replaced.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Welcome mepdblue! You have touched on several issues that I have been concerned with. Anchor babies who become border patrol agents bring unique concerns to the table, for some of the very reasons you have stated. The potential for corruption and undue influence by family members still living in mexico or the US illegally would seem to be very real concerns. At the end of the day, are they going to side with this country or their family? Seemingly, it's creating a situation that is ripe for criminal activity.

Let me ask you, when you go through application process, don't they ask any questions about parents or other family members? Do they know if a BPA has family members living illegally in the United States? It would seem to the layman to be relevant.

Finally, all of us here at ALIPAC appreciate everything the rank and file members of the BP do for this country. It's not your fault our government places such a low priority on securing that border.

Thank you for everything!

No Bueno, I agree with you that anchor babies are a large part of the problem. I believe the problem with hiring is discrimination. Many people will threaten discrimination if they are not hired because of their anchor baby status, or because of the status of their relatives. The only requirement is that they are a US Citizen; how they got that citizenship doesn't really matter. But yes, they do ask many questions regarding your family history as well as your own personal history. But if you don't divulge the info that your cousin is illegal, or that you have many relatives in Mexico that desire to live here, there isn't a good chance that the background investigator will find this info. I am from the midwest and my background investigation took over a year. I had never even known an illegal alien until I got hired and sent down to San Diego. There are first generation citizens that have background investigations that take months at best. How or why the choose the people that have a very thorough investigation I don't know.