subject: Border Patrol [print this page] he United States Border Patrol is the largest federal law enforcement agency in existence today with over twenty thousand sworn, armed law enforcement officers. The US Border Patrol is tasked with the protection and control of the US border regions both north and south as well as sea ports and other ports of entry in to the united states. The US Border Patrol's primary responsibility since the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 has been to detect and prevent terrorists from gaining entry in to the united states, especially via the southern border with Mexico.
Since the 9-11 attacks the border patrol has seen an increase in the number of special agents, as border patrol officers are officially designated, and a fundamental change in their primary mission. While still tasked with enforcement of immigration laws and preventing illegal immigrants from crossing the US border, the border patrol's primary focus has been turned to preventing terrorists and weapons from entering the country. Other primary responsibilities of the border patrol are to detect and deter human traffickers and drug smugglers along the US-Mexico border.
After the September 11th terrorist attacks the US Border Patrol was placed under the umbrella of the newly formed US Department of Homeland Security. Former president George Bush also authorized the hiring of ten thousand additional border patrol agents in response to the terrorist attacks, which was double the amount of special agents prior to September 2001. Since then the attrition rate of the border patrol has dropped significantly from the 18% it once was and the pay scale has increased dramatically as well. The hiring started by president Bush has continued unabated to this day.
The hiring process for a border patrol agent is competitive and rigorous, consisting of several phases including a physical agility test, medical examination and a psychological evaluation. Failure to meet the standards set by border patrol in any phase of the hiring process results in immediate disqualification and removal from further consideration for that round of hiring. Depending on the reason for the disqualification the applicant may be able to reapply to the border patrol at a later date.
Once the applicant has passed all phases of the hiring process they will be placed on an eligible for hire list and must wait for an assignment to begin training. If a trainee is fluent in Spanish they will spend 12 weeks training at the federal law enforcement training center in Artesia New Mexico. If the trainee is not fluent in Spanish they will spend an additional 8 weeks at the facility.
After successfully completing basic training, the new border patrol agent will be given an assignment to one of the 20 border patrol sectors throughout the country. Once training is complete there are a wide variety of Border Patrol Jobs available to those seeking them.
