Customs and Border Protection proposes to drop polygraph test

Potential hires are failing the test in large numbers

SAN DIEGO — The Border Patrol’s parent agency would exempt many veterans and law enforcement officers from a hiring requirement to take a liedetector test under a proposal to satisfy President Donald Trump’s order to add 5,000 agents, according to a memo released by the agents’ union.

The memo by Kevin McAleenan, acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner, calls the polygraph a “significant deterrent and point of failure” for applicants and a disadvantage in competing against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a separate agency that is responsible for deporting people settled in the U.S. ICE is under Trump’s orders to hire 10,000 people, and it does not require lie detectors.

The Associated Press reported in January that about two-thirds of job applicants fail CBP’s polygraph, more than double the average rate of law enforcement agencies that provided data under open-records requests. Those failures are a major reason why the Border Patrol recently fell below 20,000 agents for the first time since 2009. Many applicants have complained about being subjected to unusually long and hostile interrogations.

The undated memo lays out a plan for the agency to build a force of 26,370 agents in five years, which would deprive Trump of hitting his target during his current term.

Any waiver of the liedetector mandate may require congressional approval due to a 2010 law that introduced the requirement to root out corruption and misconduct after an earlier hiring surge doubled the size of the Border Patrol in eight years. McAleenan’s memo is addressed to Homeland Security’s deputy secretary for approval, suggesting that the Trump administration may not yet back the plan.

CBP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who oversees both CBP and ICE, told reporters Tuesday in Dallas that he still thinks the polygraph is “a good idea,” while acknowledging that it has hindered hiring.

The National Border Patrol Council, which represents Border Patrol agents, received the memo Tuesday and has been working closely with the agency on hiring plans, said Shawn Moran, a union vice president. He called the changes to the polygraph “a more commonsense approach” and said current failure rates are “ridiculous.”