U.S. Now Has More Than 18,000 Border Patrol Agents

05 Dec 2008

After an intense recruitment drive, started after current president George Bush called for doubling of the Border Patrol workforce during his presidency, the U.S. Border Patrol now comments that it has reached that goal. Earlier this week, Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security announced that the agency now has just over 18,000 Border Patrol guards.

Parts of the recruitment drive included NASCAR sponsorships and billboards across the U.S. border with Mexico. While this achievement is a note of success for the Department of Homeland Security, some people note the challenges that lay ahead for this department. These challenges include the U.S. Border Patrol’s ability to adequately provide field training for this influx of rookie agents and a low supervisor to agent ration in the Patrol. Further, the Border Patrol has a very high attrition rate. Roughly 30 percent of all agents leave the Patrol within the first year and a half of their employment, which will require the Border Patrol to continue its recruitment efforts well into the future.