Back in April, 2008 I reported on how the Border Patrol was dropping it's requirement for a High School Diploma or GED, lessening training from 88 days to 55 days and basically encouraging a Border Patrol that will enable corruption and incompetence to enter the agency. Now this has proven true as arrests for corruption within the Border Patrol has skyrocketed.
The lower quality and standards allows for cartels to bribe agents who really should not be agents, or maybe even - dare I say it - entered the force with the nefarious goal of helping the cartels. That was one of my first thoughts when I saw the headline... and when reading the article I was surprised that it was mentioned.
USA Today
A rising number of U.S. border enforcement officers are being arrested on corruption charges as Mexican drug cartels look to bribes as a way to get around tougher enforcement, border officials say.
... the trend is alarming, [James Tomsheck, assistant commissioner for internal affairs at CBP] says. "We're deeply concerned. The numbers are disturbing."
Another troubling trend: Mexican syndicates are trying to plant their own people in the agency. Investigators have arrested at least four agents since 2007 who they believe were sent by drug cartels to infiltrate the CBP, Tomsheck says.
The Homeland Security Department's Office of Inspector General, which also investigates border agents, has also reported an increase in border corruption cases.
The article tries to blame the increase in corruption on the fact that they are cracking down harder on the cartels. While the story comes across as reporting, I felt an overtone of "we should stop actually trying to crack down on the cartels so that corruption decreases" to the article.
Of course the reality is that when you don't do proper screening, training and the actual job of confirming someone is qualified in advance, what you end up with is a group of criminals and general thugs in your ranks who would sell out our country for a few hundred bucks. The majority of our agents are good, the bad apples have been allowed to enter their ranks though.
Tipped by: Illegal Immigration News
