Border security

Border Patrol brain drain: Agency losing more agents than it can hire

As the president renewed his call for a border wall, the agency charged with building it is facing a manpower crisis. The Border Patrol is losing agents faster than it can hire them.

The agency is already 2,003 short of what is congressionally mandated and the president ordered it to hire 5,000 more agents.

“It is an employment crisis,” said agent and Tucson union chief Art Del Cueto. “We are losing more agents than we can hire.”

According to a GAO report last year, the Border Patrol is losing 905 agents annually, while hiring only 523. Some are retiring but many with five or 10 years of experience are taking higher-paying jobs in other federal agencies in less remote areas with better schools, health care and job opportunities for their spouses.

Tucson Sector Chief Rudy Karisch acknowledged the problem.

“At the end of the day, it is about location we don’t necessarily lose agents because of pay, but the ability to transfer,” said Karisch. “Some of these locations are hard on families. We need to try to improve our retention initiatives.”