The Border Patrol Hits a Breaking Point
https://www.politico.com/magazine/st...Octk7pwjdiIIhA
The crisis on the border is like a magnet for spin, hyperbole ignorance and outright false information from both left and right. The author of this one actually presents a relatively (though not 100%) accurate picture of the challenges of controlling the border. The article has a left wing spin on things like use of force but overall the author has the one of the best grasps of border agency issues I’ve seen in sometime.
The mass hiring / expansion issues detailed in the article are not unique to CBP. Numerous LE agencies such as the Washington DC and Miami Police Departments have experienced similar issues after mass hires.
Most Border Patrol agents serving today signed up for a tough job in a quasi-military agency protecting the country against terrorists and drug dealers. They’ve found themselves instead serving as a more mundane humanitarian agency—the nation’s front-line greeter for families of migrants all too happy to surrender themselves after crossing the border. CBP’s doesn’t have the culture to meet this challenge, nor does it have the manpower or support from the rest of government. The latest bad headlines have come even as the promises made by candidate Donald Trump to invest in the Border Patrol have not been fulfilled; far from an increase of thousands of agents, the agency is actually now smaller than it was under President Barack Obama. As one former Border Patrol union official told me, “Trump is not delivering.”