Recruiting to protect U.S. borders
Patrol agents could earn up to $75,000 by third year
6 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Manhattan — The sound of keyboard typing resonates through this silent room in Manhattan as people apply to protect our country.
The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol made a special visit to the Little Apple for one of its biggest recruitment efforts.
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First-year agents can earn up to $46,000 in their first year, and that number can increase to $75,000 by their third year.
Dozens of Kansans fill these hallways in hopes of joining the U.S. Border Patrol.
Under a presidential mandate, the group is expected to hire up to 6,000 personnel within the next year.
More information
Learn how to apply for a job with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol here.
“Manpower will help the main objective, which is to have total control of the borders,” says Eddie Reed, Border Patrol Agent in Yuma, Ariz.
Reed has said military recruits from Fort Riley are an important addition to the team. They make up 25 percent of agents.
“You have the right kind of mindset,” Reed says. “The Border Patrol is kind of para-military, not as far as the discipline goes and the military itself, but it sets people up for the U.S. Border Patrol.
Sergeant Andrew Wamer hopes his military background will land him this job and bring him closer to his kids.
He’s been serving in the military for six years, having been away from his wife and two kids for two deployments and soon his third.
“The hardest part is just, um, just the kids,” Wamer says. “That’s the hardest part. Other than that, I really don’t mind, but being deployed, it’s just hard on the kids. That’s really what it boils down to.”
But for Wamer, law enforcement has also been a childhood fantasy.
“Police cars used to drive by. I used to jump up. My mom says I used to jump up and run to the window."
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