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Page Outline:

1. Basic Facts
2. A Week In the Shoes of A Border Agent
3. Corruption on the Border
4. Cost of Hiring More Border Agents
5. What Is Washington Doing?
6. Sources

Basic Facts

•    According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, during the year 2007 an average of 1.2 million people arrived in the United States everyday. ¹

•    According to Whitehouse.gov, over 500,000 million people cross the border each year. ²

•    There are 30,000 border agent personnel (including management) nationwide. ³

•    The United States border spans 102,514 miles. ⁴

•    The Border Patrol is expected to increase from 10,000 agents in 2001 to 20,000 agents in 2009. ⁵

A Week In the Shoes of A Border Agent

On CBP.gov, you can find weekly updates of incidents U.S. border agents were involved in and information about recent seizures/arrests. The following headline was for the week of August 14- August 20, 2008.

Border Patrol agents seized over 8,203 pounds of marijuana valued at $6,562,471. Agents arrested 9 criminal aliens and 9 gang members. There were 13 rocking incidents and 1 shooting incident. ⁶

Corruption on the Border

According to a May 27, 2008 New York Times article, “there are about 200 open cases pending against law enforcement employees who work the border.” While this number may seem high, keep in mind that there are nearly 20,000 law enforcement officers who patrol the U.S. border. That means only 1% of border agents are being investigated for corruption. ⁷

Cost of Hiring More Border Agents

During a hearing held in the House of Representatives on June 19, 2007 entitled “Increasing the Number of U.S. Border Patrol Agents,” a representative from the organization DynCorp International stated. . .

we estimate first-year costs per agent at approximately $197,000, including salary, benefits, and one-time costs for recruiting, screening and training (to including housing, travel, and per diem

What Is Washington Doing?

U.S.-Mexico Border Fence

In 2006, President Bush authorized 700 miles of fencing to be built along the United States-Mexico border. Although this authorization did not provide any funding for the project, an earlier bill signed by the president for $1.2 billion ensured that some money would be available for the costly endeavor.

Though the projected border fence would cover nearly 700 miles, the remaining two-thirds of the 2,100 mile U.S./Mexican border would remain open. ⁸

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Sources