Sens. Flake, McCain, Johnson Introduce Boots on the Border Act
Boosts border manpower by waiving onerous CBP polygraph requirement for veterans, military service members, and law enforcement officers
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Boots on the Border Act. The legislation would help address hiring shortfalls at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by waiving onerous and duplicative CBP polygraph hiring requirements for applicants with qualifying law enforcement or military experience.
According to data provided by CBP, hiring delays associated with the agency’s necessarily thorough vetting process have resulted in only about one percent of applicants successfully being hired. Due in part to the agency's slow hiring rate, 1,768 Border Patrol agent positions and 1,046 CBP officer positions currently remain unfilled.
“At a time when Arizonans are rightfully demanding a secure border, it’s unjustifiable to be turning away qualified applicants with distinguished military and law enforcement service because of a potentially flawed polygraph,” said Sen. Flake. “By waiving CBP’s polygraph requirement for these well-vetted and qualified applicants, this commonsense bill will ensure that bureaucratic hiring obstacles don’t hinder CBP’s critical border security and trade facilitation missions.”
The Boots on the Border Act is endorsed by the Tucson Local 2544 Border Patrol union.
Read the latest news coverage on the bill here: