Background

• Border Patrol Agents perform many different functions vital to the country's security and facilitation of legal immigration. The U.S. Border Patrol was established in the 1920s, and while its responsibilities have evolved and multiplied, the Border Patrol remains one of the most important law enforcement agencies in the country. How a Border Patrol Agent spends a workday changes as he moves through different stages of his career, but his primary task is to contribute to national security.
  
  

Training

• Border Patrol candidates must participate in an intensive training program before assuming regular duty on the border. During this five-month paid training, a future Border Patrol Agent spends his workday in Artesia, New Mexico, learning about all the varied aspects of the career of a Border Patrol Agent. Much emphasis at this Border Patrol Agent training is placed on learning Spanish, as a large part of a Border Patrol Agent's workday will be spent communicating with Spanish-speaking legal and illegal aliens.
  In order to qualify for acceptance to the Border Patrol training program, an applicant must be a U.S. citizen, have a valid state driver's license, speak English as a first language and have completed at least a high school education or a passing score on a GED exam. A medical and physical exam will also be required of each Border Patrol candidate in order to ensure the applicant is in good health and capable of performing some of the strenuous tasks of a Border Patrol Agent.
  
  

Environment

• The majority of Border Patrol Agents will be stationed along the U.S. and Mexico border in south and west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, or California. The landscape in these areas is dry and rugged with hot temperatures throughout much of the year. A Border Patrol Agent spends a workday in this environment day in and day out, on the move to complete the many tasks of maintaining a secure border.
  
  

Job Description

• Border Patrol Agents often spend their workdays traveling around by car, horse or on foot, covertly surveying suspected areas of illegal crossings and following up on leads from aircraft sightings or electronic sensor television systems. These efforts include tracking, gathering physical evidence, checking traffic, farms, and ranches and patrolling border cities.
  A Border Patrol Agent spends a workday often on the go, constantly working to apprehend illegal aliens and drug and human traffickers. Long hours and physical demands are necessities of the job, but it can be a very rewarding profession. Beginning Border Patrol Agents make a salary of nearly $37,000, which can increase to $70,000 after only three years.