Human trafficking

CBP Administered Polygraphs to Applicants Already Admitting Drug Smuggling, Human Trafficking

Customs and Border Protection is spending millions of dollars conducting lie-detector tests on job applicants who have already admitted disqualifying information during their interviews, according to the Homeland Security Department inspector general. The IG warned the wastefulness could derail President Trump’s planned hiring spree at the agency.

While a 2010 law requires all CBP applicants to take a polygraph exam prior to employment, potential employees first must submit documentation and participate in a pre-test interview. The IG estimated CBP spent $5.1 million on 2,300 polygraphs between fiscal years 2013 and 2016 in which the candidates freely made “disqualifying admissions” -- such as illegal drug use and smuggling, human trafficking or close relationships to people engaged in those crimes -- before the exam took place. That represents about 7 percent of the agency’s $72 million in spending on polygraphs in that timeframe.