Border Patrol Agent

[taco verde]

Serious question-- What happens to us in the Border Patrol hiring process if the Biden admin gets in? I'm not trying to be political, I just know that they are more lenient on immigration than Trump. So could we maybe see a hiring freeze? Again, not trying to start any arguments or debates, just curious to know the future of BP.

The Obama admin was also “ lenient” on immigration and more than 3000 agents were hired during his time in office. The only thing I see changing is border wall money will get diverted to more “technology” and “boots on the ground”. You might be more likely to get hired if Biden gets in.

[Exbpa340]

The Obama admin was also “ lenient” on immigration and more than 3000 agents were hired during his time in office. The only thing I see changing is border wall money will get diverted to more “technology” and “boots on the ground”. You might be more likely to get hired if Biden gets in.

In the first half of the Obama administration they tried to portray themselves as enforcing immigration law (which they did everything in their power to undermine). Mid way through Obama’s first term he started implementing his priorities. This started in 2011 with the minor traffic policy. This meant that Agents/Officers could not arrest an illegal alien already in the US if they were noncriminal or only had previous arrests for for minor traffic offenses (driving without a license) and/or drunk and disorderly. The following year they implemented DACA. After the 2012 election he (Obama) expanded his “priorities”. This new policy prohibited officers from arresting any illegal alien already in the US (not at entry) that didn’t have either a Felony conviction, a significant misdemeanor or three misdemeanor convictions. He then pretty much destroyed the Immigration detainer (Clackamas case) and allowed sanctuary cities to flourish. He then tried to implement DACA 2.0 and DAPA but was stopped by the courts. He administratively closed hundreds of thousands of cases in immigration court. He expanded the definition of who could qualify for asylum to include domestic violence victims and those fearing gangs. He expanded which aliens could apply for I601A waivers and allowed these aliens to remain in the US until CIS rendered a decision. He allowed thousands of DACA recipients to obtain green cards and later citizenship through the advanced parole loophole. The list goes on and on.. He tried to destroy immigration enforcement.

To say the Obama administration was lenient on immigration is one of the biggest understatements of the decade. Your statement that an applicant is “more likely hired if Biden gets in” is laughable and not based in reality. Biden has already stated that wants to stop all removals (for at least a 100 days) and detain zero aliens. Sounds real pro enforcement to me..

[SHU]

.....................

[big_bob_69]

I imagine this hurt morale quite a bit. What did this mean for an agent in their day to day work life under the Obama administration?

[Exbpa340]

In the second half of the Obama administration we were prohibited from arresting about 80 percent of the illegal aliens we encountered (interior of the country). We could only arrest certain criminal aliens. Any arrest outside of the priorities had to be approved by the deputy field office director. I’ll give you an example. I was covering a local jail when an illegal alien with gang ties was arrested for a drive by shooting. He was bonding out of custody and I requested authorization to take this POS into our custody and was denied because he hadn’t been convicted yet. Not a unique scenario. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of aliens that we couldn’t arrest just at my office in any given year.

Those policies are coming back and fast... all they need to do is change the date and put a fresh signature on them.

I concur that there are definitely dark days ahead but more so for the country. The state of our elections is a disgrace. It’s not about winning and losing but this election showed we are no different than a Banana Republic or Communist Regime. It doesn’t matter who the people voted for but who counted the votes. In a few years we will be entering into Maduro territory where the Dem will get 98 percent of the vote but that vote tally will be made the day before the election.

I like many Americans can accept defeat in a legitimate election but this one was far from it.

[FNG41YR]

@big_bob it sucks under any administration.

[Saluki89]

Has anyone had any movement beyond the background? I submitted my eqip about 3 months ago and haven't heard anything.

[hopefulfedle]

Still waiting on SI and Poly.

[Saluki89]

Have you gotten your clearance yet

[Angelcaro]

Takes a few months background comes after poly
You might have to submit it again.. you have to update it every 6 months

[S.R2495]

Hello, everyone I recently became interested in cbp. I had a question regarding the process, is it long and tidious, and where do we do all the process, like going for medical, poly, ect? I currently work for the NYPD and i wanted to know if it was worth it.

[fsi1212]

It can be extremely long depending on any hang ups. Even if you have a perfect background, medical, etc it can take over a year. For me, I've been stuck waiting on a medical waiver for almost 2 months. When you wait on stuff like that, nothing else moves.

[Angelcaro]

Anyone in Class BP 1166?

EOD 02/12/2021

[SouthWestSon]

Class 1166...is that what they're up to now? WOW!!! I was Class 363 and went to Charleston (TCA/DGL). How time flies. I crossed over to ICE and retired 11/2018. Great times with The Patrol. Good luck and stay safe.

[big_bob_69]

Got an interview invite.

Does anyone know if they do the PFT/poly closer to home, or am I gonna have to travel for that as well? I’m in a decent size metro area.

[HSIApplicant]

Got an interview and security interview invite. In the pipeline for two 1811 positions- grateful of course- lots to think about.

[big_bob_69]

Same for me. If they bumped the max pay grade to 13 for BP agents I would choose it 100% over the 1811 jobs I’m qualified for.

[battlewagon]

Having been in both positions, I'm telling you now that if your decision is based on the difference between a 12 and 13, you're going to have a bad time.

[big_bob_69]

I think my decision will mostly be based on who is willing to hire me first, haha.

[FNG41YR]

If you get an offer for an 1811 take that over BP. BP is a foot in the door type of gig.

[fsi1212]

Well I got notified that my medical waiver request was denied. But some good news. I did pick up an armed security job working alongside a police department on Project Safe Neighborhood. I've been trying to be an armed guard for quite some time, just didn't have the money for the class. So there's that. Good luck to you all. I may apply again in the future.

[porkchop23]

What was so bad medically that they wouldn't let you in?

[fsi1212]

porkchop23 mental health stuff. Without going into too much detail, when I wrote the waiver request, I was able to articulate clearly that my mental health did not affect how I work at my current job, but they denied it anyway for whatever reason.

[porkchop23]

Geeze sorry bro

[fsi1212]

porkchop23 It's all good. This new job I picked up is a sweet gig. We ride out with the police department and do warrant runs and such.

[big_bob_69]

Doing my Security and Structured Interviews this week. I saw someone got schedule for a poly pretty quickly after theirs a week or two ago. Looks like things are moving along again.

[HSIApplicant]

Knocked out interview and PSI yesterday. Stoked to move forward. I guess the big things are the Poly and BG.

[big_bob_69]

Yes, the poly has a 50-60% failure rate according to the agent who did my security interview. Thats the real interview.

[ghambone]

Is everyone doing the psi now?

[darkhorse6]

Decided to throw my name in the hat today.

[HeliDuck]

Threw my name in the hat as well along with AMO.

[DiverB72]

Are you a dual rated guy? One of the guys in my office is a national recruiter and he said we have about 800 applications in the pipe line since the COVID-19 has caused airlines to furlough. Just be prepared for a long wait. Are you flying somewhere now or with the guard/reserves?

[big_bob_69]

Got an email saying my security interview stuff was submitted to OPR for suitability review.

Don't think I've heard about this step in the process before.

Edit: the background portion on the CBP application "lit up" this morning, so I guess the security interview completion counts as the first part of the BI.

[Saluki89]

When did you submit your EQIP

[big_bob_69]

About 5 months ago.

[Ramp66]

Does anyone know if Spanish is part of the six month academy or if it is an additional few weeks at the end?

[Exbpa340]

It’s part of the 26 week academy.

[Cgrizz]

Spanish is 15 weeks at the academy

[DRohn167]

Academy is currently 23 weeks (not including current two week ROM period or any other COVID related delays). The Spanish program consists of 15 weeks worth of Spanish with each “week” being 6 days long... so you end up attending Spanish classes almost the entirety of the academy. Just pay attention and study and you will pass, it’s made with the non-nativo in mind.

[specialagentblog]

I am now starting to make the uniformed sections of this blog aware of a resource for those who are looking at potential career broadening opportunities later on down the road (many uniformed officers switch to criminal investigations & make ideal 1811s due to their experience). The average starting age for 1811s usually hovers in the early 30s & for most, it is their second LEO job. Additionally, uniformed fed LEOs get to keep their retirement years, TSP contributions & often receive higher starting pay bands (the 5 year mark is perfect for making the switch). I hope this is useful to everyone on this forum:

The Special Agents Blog relates to all things "1811." It includes agency profiles, hiring advice, article links and videos pertaining to the Special Agent profession. My goal is for this website to be a great resources for current, past and future special agents. Content suggestions (ie articles, links, books) are ALWAYS welcome as providing a central repository is the intended goal.

www.specialagents.org OR Type "Special Agents Blog" into Google

I currently have agency profiles for HSI, DEA, FBI, ATF, Secret Service, DSS, IRS CI, USPIS, NCIS and now OSI.

I wish the best to my fellow law enforcement officers; be proud of your service.

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