(August 27, 2008)—The sobering reality of working along the border has created an environment in which about 30 percent of newly hired U.S. Border Patrol agents leave their jobs in less than 18 months.
The Border Patrol's struggle to keep new hires has become more evident as the agency comes close to meeting President Bush's target of 18,000 agents by the end of the year, up from 12,000 two years ago and double the number from eight years ago.
The hiring surge means 42 percent of agents have less than three years on the job.
The GAO estimates that taxpayers pay $14,700 for each trainee at the Border Patrol Academy in Artesia, New Mexico, but the 2006 figure doesn't take into account the many additional hours that senior agents spend training hires during a two-year probationary period.
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