Donald Trump has vowed that if elected, he will beef up the beleaguered Border Patrol with thousands of new agents to fix what he calls the Biden-Harris importation of migrants.
The agency has recently struggled with staff retention and recruitment issues, as well as low morale, as many field agents have been reassigned to data processing duties amid a historic wave of approximately 10 million migrants encountered over the past 3.5 years.
The former president's policy proposal was unveiled during a Sunday rally for thousands of people at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Arizona – An hour and a half north of Phoenix, through winding mountain passes that cut through mountains like red columns.
Impatient border officials cheered 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 taking credit for the low migration numbers.
He then promised that if he still won Choice Day: “The immigrant invasion ends and the rebuilding of our country begins.”
To that end, Trump has said he wants to hire dozens of new Border Patrol agents.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks with members of the U.S. Border Patrol before appearing at a campaign rally, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona
The former president said that once he takes office, he has a goal of hiring 10,000 new Border Patrol agents.
He will also develop 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 retention and signing bonus,” he said.
The ambitious employment target comes after a wave of retirements and a lack of interested workers.
Shockingly, 88 percent of Border Patrol stations indicated they were struggling with staffing shortages, a report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found.
Knowing that staffing levels were in the red, the Biden-Harris administration announced its own bonus earlier this year to hire more agents.
However, reports indicate that an incentive of up to $30,000 was unable to attract Border Patrol applicants.
Additionally, according to the report, at least 4,000 agents have left the Border Patrol since October 2020, twice the number from during Trump's first presidency. Washington Examiner.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Findlay Toyota Arena on Sunday, October 13, 2024, in Prescott Valley, Arizona. During this event, he obtained support for the National Council of the Border Guard
Paul Perez, chairman of the National Border Patrol Council, speaks before Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, during a campaign rally
Unbuttoning his shirt, Perez revealed another T-shirt with MAGA written on the front
U.S. Border Patrol agents collect and sort through migrants who gathered overnight between the primary and secondary border walls separating Mexico and the United States after U.S. President Biden announced tough new restrictions in San Diego, California, U.S., June 6, 2024. Morale among the Border Patrol is low, according to congressional reports
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Currently, the Border Patrol has approximately 19,000 agents, and all of them supported the former president during the event.
On stage, Trump also officially endorsed 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 endorse and endorse President Donald J. Trump for President of the United States,” said NBPC President Paul Perez.
“We will have to make a choice in November. Continue the chaos, let the criminal cartels control the border, let drugs and fentanyl into our country or put an end to them once and for all.
“If we allow Border Tsar Harris to win this election, every city and every community in this great country will go to hell.”
The crowd erupted in support.
Paul Perez, chairman of the National Border Patrol Council, is running for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump
Trump talked about how the Biden-Harris administration screwed up the agency.
“Kamala demanded that they help illegal migrants crossing the border,” the former president said of the Border Patrol's painstaking efforts in recent years to process millions of migrants before entering the U.S.
According to a 2023 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report: “In some sectors, the U.S. Border Patrol has diverted up to 60 percent of its agents from border security missions to family and child welfare duties, significantly reducing agent presence at the border.'
Moreover, congressional reports indicate that the morale of many Border Patrol agents has suffered due to data processing.
“What Kamala and her radical leftist cronies did to the state of Arizona is a crime that can never be forgiven,” Trump added.
“For four years in a row, it has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant 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 staffing.
He then sought to increase the force to 25,000 personnel, but the number of active agents never approached that number.
