Donald Trump promised to bolster the beleaguered Border Patrol with thousands of new agents if elected to rectify what he calls the importation of Biden-Harris migrants.
The agency has recently faced employee retention and recruitment issues, as well as low morale, as many field agents have been assigned processing duties amid the historic wave of approximately 10 million immigrants encountered in the past 3, 5 years.
The former president’s policy proposal came during a rally before thousands of people Sunday at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona, an hour and a half north of Phoenix, through winding passes that divide pillar-shaped mountains. reds.
Eager attendees from border states applauded enthusiastically when Trump mentioned the Border Patrol and his past success working with them: “You know what I did, I called them and said ‘close the border,'” he recalled before crediting himself for the low migration numbers. .
He then promised that if he wins on Election Day: “The immigrant invasion ends and the restoration of our country begins.”
To do this, Trump said he wanted to hire dozens of new Border Patrol agents.
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, speaks with members of the U.S. Border Patrol before speaking at a campaign rally, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona.
The former president said he has set a goal of hiring 10,000 new Border Patrol agents should he take office.
He will also form a plan with Congress to approve raises and bonuses.
‘If I win, I will ask Congress to immediately approve a 10 percent raise for all agents and a $10,000 signing and retention bonus,’ he proclaimed.
The ambitious hiring goal comes at a time when the agency has seen a wave of retirements and a lack of interested employees.
Surprisingly, 88 percent of Border Patrol stations indicated they were understaffed, a percentage report of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Knowing that staffing levels are in the red, the Biden-Harris administration announced a bonus of its own earlier this year to recruit more agents.
But reports indicate that the incentive of up to $30,000 has struggled to incentivize Border Patrol applicants.
Additionally, since October 2020, at least 4,000 agents have left the Border Patrol, double the number who left under Trump’s first presidency, according to the Washington Examiner.
Former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, speaks at a campaign rally at the Findlay Toyota Arena on Sunday, October 13, 2024 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. He was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council at the event.
Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, speaks before former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, at a campaign rally.
Removing his shirt, Perez revealed another T-shirt with MAGA printed on the front.
US Border Patrol agents round up and sort migrants who gathered overnight between the primary and secondary border walls separating Mexico and the United States following the announcement of tough new restrictions imposed by US President Biden in San Diego, California, USA, on June 6, 2024. Morale among Border Patrol is low, according to congressional reports
Currently, the Border Patrol has around 19,000 agents, and all of them supported the former president at the event.
On stage, Trump also received the official endorsement of the Border Patrol union, which represents more than 19,000 members.
“On behalf of the 16,000 men and women represented by the National Border Patrol Council, we strongly support and endorse President Donald J. Trump as President of the United States,” said NBPC President Paul Perez.
‘This November we have to make a decision. Continue the chaos, allow criminal cartels to control the border, allow drugs and fentanyl to cross our country or end it once and for all.
“If we let Border Czar Harris win this election, every city, every community in this great country, will go to hell.”
The crowd erupted in support.
Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, hugs Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Trump spoke about how the Biden-Harris administration has misrepresented the agency.
“Kamala demanded that they aid and abet illegal immigrants to cross,” the former president said of the Border Patrol’s painstaking efforts in processing millions of immigrants into the United States in recent years.
According to a 2023 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report: ‘In some sectors, the US Border Patrol diverted up to 60 percent of its agents from the border security mission to care for families and children, which significantly reduced the presence of agents at the border. .’
Additionally, congressional reports indicate that the morale of many of these Border Patrol agents has suffered due to processing work.
“What Kamala and her radical left cronies have done to the state of Arizona is a crime that can never be forgiven,” Trump added.
“For four years in a row, he has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and immigrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world.”
During his previous term in the White House, Trump had a similar goal of increasing Border Patrol personnel.
He then sought to increase the force to 25,000 troops, however, the number of active agents never approached that number.