Attrition exceeded 2021 hiring, according to a September report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) documenting CBP’s chronic understaffing.

Long hours, harsh working conditions and relatively low wages have kept turnover high for decades at the Border Police, which was created a century ago. A Audit 2023 found that 88% of border posts were understaffed.

Advertising and other recruiting efforts under both Trump and President Joe Biden have produced disappointing results.

Under Trump, CBP signed a $297 million contract with a company that promised to recruit, vet and hire 5,000 Border Patrol agents plus 2,500 officers for related agencies. The administration scrapped the deal three years into Trump’s tenure. So far, the company has delivered just 36 new hires at a cost of more than $60 million.

The standards are strict. Only 1.8 percent of Border Patrol applicants complete training and enter active duty, the GAO says — about the same as for the Secret Service. The FBI rate is just over 3%, by comparison.

The screening process includes polygraph exams and drug tests.

Border Patrol personnel peaked at 21,444 agents in 2011, agency records show.

As of June, the workforce was just over 19,000, according to the GAO — well below the 22,000 target set by Congress last year.

Newly hired agents with no prior law enforcement experience can earn between $48,809 and $87,838, according to federal job postings. Former police officers and military police can earn more.

Since January, the Border Police has offered $20,000 in bonuses for new hires who complete training and three years of service, plus $10,000 if they agree to serve in a remote location.

During the campaign, Trump promised a $10,000 signing bonus and a 10 percent raise for Border Patrol agents. He and his aides did not clarify whether the bonus would be on top of existing incentives.

“We have a huge shortage because they weren’t treated right,” Trump said at an Oct. 13 campaign rally in Prescott Valley.

The shortage didn’t start when Biden took office nearly four years ago.

By then, there were 19,740 agents, 88 fewer than when Trump was sworn in. In the second half of his first term, the Border Patrol hired more than 3,500 agents but lost more than 3,100 to attrition, according to the GAO.

That builds on projections issued early in Trump’s tenure by his first CBP commissioner, Kevin McAleenan — that the Border Patrol would need to hire more than 26,000 new agents to expand by 5,000 due to turnover.

A 2017 DHS inspector general report cited rising agent suicide rates and struggles with employee morale among other factors that have prevented the department from filling all authorized positions.

CBP reported more than 2.1 million meetings along the southwest border in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The monthly number set a record in December last year, but has fallen sharply since then.

In some sectors, Border Patrol officials say the influx has required diversions up to 60% of agents away from border security missions to care for migrant families and children; provides transportation to processing centers, shelters and hospitals; and takes care of the documents.

Presidents Biden, Trump and Barack Obama have tried and failed to increase the number of Border Patrol agents. Under Obama, the number dropped from 20,119 agents to 19,437.

Trump has promised to make it happen in his second term.

“President Trump promised to make sure border agents and law enforcement have the resources they need to keep our border safe and our communities safe,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s pick for press secretary at White House, to Cronkite News via email. “He will deliver.”

The president-elect’s policies require much more staff.

The mass deportations he promised to target 11 million undocumented immigrantsa daunting task for 6,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents assigned to removals.

Most interior enforcement is performed by ICE, while the Border Patrol primarily guards land borders.

Immigration experts said signing bonuses won’t be enough to fill vacancies. Some also criticize Trump’s emphasis on law enforcement.

“Focusing on more Border Patrol agents is a very narrow, restrictive framework and understanding” of solutions, said Allan Colbern, an assistant professor and immigration expert at Arizona State University’s School of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

A better approach, he said, would be “comprehensive immigration reform,” which includes hiring more immigration lawyers and judges to reduce the backlog of cases that force authorities to release asylum seekers to the U.S. pending a hearing.

He also blamed the emotional cost of a job focused on discouraging access to the American dream by people desperate enough to try.

“If we had a reception system for the Border Patrol to facilitate humanitarian assistance, to help people through the legal system to seek asylum,” he said, “the job would be much more meaningful.”

Democrats generally share this view, while Republicans tend to emphasize the law enforcement side.

Earlier this year, at Trump’s urging, Senate Republicans killed a bipartisan bill that would have added 1,500 Border Patrol agents. The bill added 20 billion dollars to expand staff. It also tightened asylum rules.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, which opposes mass deportation, agreed that hiring the staff needed to speed up processing would reduce the need for more enforcement.

“Simply having more agents will not solve the so-called border crisis,” he said.