Washington, D.C.—Late yesterday, Congressman Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives which will crack down on and eliminate corruption in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents along the American southwest border.
As Mexican drug cartels continue to target and bribe federal employees and attempt to plant informants in the CBP along the border, the numbers of officials being arrested on corruption charges is rising with 129 arrests made in 2009.
The bill introduced by Rep. Shuler authorizes a portion of emergency funds already allocated by Congress to be spent on polygraph tests for all applicants for CBP law enforcement positions and to retest current employees every five years. Polygraphs investigate the behavior and ethics of applicants and employees. Already, these tests have proven extremely successful in weeding out applicants who later fail more detailed and costly background checks.
While the Department of Homeland Security has already been directed by Congress to give polygraph examinations to all applicants for CBP law enforcement positions and to periodically retest law enforcement employees, insufficient funds and a drastic increase of new hires over the past 18 months, has resulted in fewer than 15% of applicants actually undergoing polygraph exams. The backlog for periodic reexamination of employees is estimated at 19,000.
“Mexican drug cartels are the driving force behind the explosion of violence in both Mexico and the southwest United States,” said Rep. Shuler. “If we are going to ensure border security and safety, we absolutely must have a strong and reliable Border Patrol force. It's unacceptable that corrupt border patrol officials are undermining our efforts and allowing cartels to violently smuggle drugs, weapons, and people across the border into the United States.”
Shuler's bill is the sister bill to S. 3243 which was introduced into the Senate by Senator Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas). S. 3243 passed through the Senate Committee on Homeland Security with unanimous bipartisan support, and later passed the Senate under Unanimous Consent.
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano wrote recently, “Rigorous initial investigations and regular, periodic reinvestigations are essential tools to combat corruption.”
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