8 new Border Patrol agents are sworn in
Eight new U.S. Border Patrol agents who will be assigned to the Yuma Sector were sworn in on their first day on the job by Yuma Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony J. Porvaznik Monday morning during a ceremony held at the sector headquarters building.
“I think you are going to love your time here. Yuma is a great place to be and start,” Porvaznik said. “I can tell you that of all the places I have been, Yuma, I believe, is the most border-patrol-friendly border town on the southern border. This is a very supporting community.”
All of the new agents, who will attend the Border Patrol’s 1078th academy session, traveled to Yuma from all over the United States, with some coming from as far as New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri and Texas.
Porvaznik also told the six men and two women that they were the largest group of new hires he has administered the oath of office to in the two years he has been Chief Patrol Agent of the Yuma Sector.
“It looks like our recruiting and hiring efforts are paying off,” Porvaznik said. “We have been getting two or four agents at a time, so this pretty much doubles that effort. Thank you for your interest in the Border Patrol.”
The new recruits will depart Yuma on Aug. 2 for the Border Patrol’s academy, which is in Artesia, New Mexico, and are expected to graduate in January 2018. Upon their return, they will all be assigned to one of the sector’s three stations.
There are currently about 830
agents in the Yuma Sector, according to Porvaznik, with the new group part of a hiring push over the next several years to increase the number of agents in the sector to about 1,200.
As part of his immigration reform plan, President Donald Trump wants to hire 15,000 new agents between ICE and CBP. The plan calls for significantly boosting the ranks of the CBP, by adding another 5,000 agents.
“You are helping us bridge that gap and get back up to where we should be,” Porvaznik said. “That is good news for you, because you are the leading edge of the wave of new employees in the Border Patrol.”
The Border Patrol anticipates eventually having 26,000 agents and is aggressively hiring to meet its staffing goals, which could take a number of years.
Porvaznik said the agency has been congressionally funded for more than 21,000 agents, but is currently well below that number at slightly more than 19,000.
In addressing the new hires, Porvaznik said one of the things he always tells agents is that it doesn’t matter when they were hired; if they have an idea about something the Border Patrol does, then they need to share that with the agency.
“It doesn’t matter if it is your first day or you have 20 years of experience. If that idea helps us to better protect America, then we want to hear it,” Porvaznik said.
He explained that in the past the Border Patrol had been somewhat resistant to change, but now in a world where change happens so fast, if the agency isn’t adapting, then it is falling behind.
“I said that the first day I came to the Yuma Sector back in 2015, and I still believe it today,” Porvaznik said. “Things are much different today then when I came here, and they will be different next year, and the year after. So we adopt the mentality that what works for us today may not work for us tomorrow.”
The Border Patrol’s mission is to protect America, and Porvaznik told the new agents that it entails a lot of things. He went on to say that every day somewhere in the country the Border Patrol apprehends child molesters, rapists, murderers and other criminals who have been deported and are trying to sneak back into the country.
“These are the kind of people we encounter,” Porvaznik said. “We are the ones between that person doing someone harm, or them going back to jail.”
Agents will also encounter individuals trying to get into the country illegally who don’t have criminal intentions.
“They are good people looking for a better life. We don’t make that decision,” Porvaznik said. “What we do is we bring them in, take care of them, feed them, give them water and make sure they get medical care if they need it.
We also process them, and then we let the other part of the Department of Homeland Security and the court system decide where those people go and what their final disposition is.”
Because of what the organization does, with agents working in urban, rural and extremely remote environments, Porvaznik told the new hires that there is no other law enforcement agency in the country like the Border Patrol.
With several of the new agents to be assigned to the Wellton Station, Porvaznick took a few minutes to talk about Camp Grip, a
forward operating base in eastern Yuma County.
Located about 80 miles from the Wellton Station, the base is four miles north of the International border with Mexico and takes about four hours to reach by vehicle. Agents spend a week at the base and work 12-hour shifts.
“It is rugged, remote, difficult terrain to work,” Porvaznik said. “Most of the people we encounter out there are backpacking dope into the United States, mostly marijuana.”
Porvaznik told the new hires that as Border Patrol agents, they would have an opportunity to do a lot of things other law enforcement agencies don’t get to.
He also urged them to make the most of their time in the Yuma Sector and to learn as much as they could while they were here.
“It is a great, great place to work,” Porvaznik said. “In my soon-to-be 29 years in the Border Patrol, this is the best job I have ever had. I don’t even look at it as a job. It is part of my life. I love it.”
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.