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Raw Story: 'Tremendous shortage': Border Patrol shrunk drastically during Trump's first term
Raw Story - 'Tremendous shortage': Border Patrol shrunk drastically during Trump's first term
Kelechukwu Iruoma, Cronkite News
November 22, 2024 10:54AM ET
WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump has promised to hire 10,000 more Border Patrol agents as part of a crackdown on immigration. That may be a tall order.
Days after taking office in 2017, Trump ordered the Border Patrol to add 5,000 agents. By the time he left four years later, the Border Patrol had actually shrunk by 1,084 agents, records from Customs and Border Protection show.
Current staffing is nearly 3,000 below the target set last year by Congress.
“Despite promises to recruit more Border Patrol agents, the reality is that over the last several administrations, the Border Patrol has struggled to recruit, train and maintain agents,” said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
Attrition has outpaced hiring since 2021, according to a September report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) documenting the CBP’s chronic staffing shortages.
Long hours, harsh working conditions and relatively low pay have kept turnover high for decades at the Border Patrol, which was created a century ago. A 2023 audit found that 88% of border stations were understaffed.
/snip
Kelechukwu Iruoma, Cronkite News
November 22, 2024 10:54AM ET
WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump has promised to hire 10,000 more Border Patrol agents as part of a crackdown on immigration. That may be a tall order.
Days after taking office in 2017, Trump ordered the Border Patrol to add 5,000 agents. By the time he left four years later, the Border Patrol had actually shrunk by 1,084 agents, records from Customs and Border Protection show.
Current staffing is nearly 3,000 below the target set last year by Congress.
“Despite promises to recruit more Border Patrol agents, the reality is that over the last several administrations, the Border Patrol has struggled to recruit, train and maintain agents,” said Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
Attrition has outpaced hiring since 2021, according to a September report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) documenting the CBP’s chronic staffing shortages.
Long hours, harsh working conditions and relatively low pay have kept turnover high for decades at the Border Patrol, which was created a century ago. A 2023 audit found that 88% of border stations were understaffed.
/snip
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