Amid border patrol recruitment crisis one step of the hiring process is wiping out tons of applicants German caution on Ukraine arms rooted in political culture Amazon web services plans to invest 35 billion dollars in Virginia data centers death of Elijah McLean Colorado officials plead not guilty to 32 counts.
Including manslaughter Trump nfts soar 90 in seven days as Reports say he plans return to Twitter this is breaking news I'm Aaron Burnett in Washington amid border patrol recruitment crisis one step of the hiring process is wiping out tons of applicants border Patrol's polygraph requirement is.
Hampering its recruitment as the migrant crisis surges on Eagle Pass Texas border patrol is failing to hire agents fast enough to replace thousands of soon-to-be retirees and current and former employees say overly aggressive and unaccountable polygraph examiners are disqualifying more than half of otherwise qualified.
Candidates we're losing a lot of people including those who have prior military service who have active security clearances and they fail a CBP polygraph John anthonson vice president of the national border patrol Council told Fox News it doesn't make any sense polygraphs or lie detector tests are.
Generally inadmissible in court cases and federal law bans most private companies from using them to screen employees but taking a polygraph has been mandatory for prospective Customs and Border Protection agents for the past decade the failure rates are staggering.
About two-thirds of CBP applicants who took a polygraph failed the Associated Press reported in 2017. the FBI and secret Services failure rates were about half that according to the same report that means statistically applicants aiming to join the agency responsible for protecting the president can more.
Easily pass a polygraph requirement than those aiming to protect the Border none of the agencies provided Fox News with more recent statistics in a statement CBP objected to comparing agencies due to possible discrepancies and standards and testing and data Gathering the percentage of candidates who passed.
To the next phase of the pre-employment betting has increased over the years due to our refining our polygraph exam to focus on our agency's needs the statement reads in part but anthonson said cbp's failure rate is now closer to 50 percent still well above other Federal and local law enforcement agency averages.
Rejected candidates often get jobs with other agencies like the Texas Department of Public Safety he said they'll go any other place where they're not treated like a criminal during that portion of the hiring process Anthony said we're losing a lot of really great people because of this polygraph portion.
Tracy Anderson Torres started her career with border patrol in 2004 long before polygraph exams were required she was a canine Handler border Community liaison agent and spearheaded a youth program the mother of four left in 2015 when juggling Child Care duties became too much to handle.
It was either going to be you know my career or my family she said so I chose to essentially give up my career Taurus said she left in good standing and was told she could always return to the agency but when she tried to do just that in 2018 there was a new application requirement.
Her first polygraph lasted about four hours and came back inconclusive she said so she had to drive 300 miles to a second exam location to try again Taurus said she was shaken up from the moment she walked into the interview room and was berated for holding a cup of McDonald's coffee even though no one.
Warned her she wasn't supposed to drink caffeine before the test it was downhill from there Taurus said The Examiner started accusing me of all kinds of things he asked about her family so she told him about her kids and how crazy that could make life and he's like oh so do you use your.
Husband's prescription medication with wine to take the edge off she recalled adding that the examiner also accused her of skimming narcotics after drug busts after the instructor unhooked the sensors he allegedly told Torres she failed bad like serial killer bad nearly two weeks later cbp's human.
Resources department informed Torres that her offer of employment had been withdrawn and that there was no appeals process it was one of the worst experiences I'd ever had Taurus said he was literally the end all to my career to me coming back to something that I was good at.
The same time CBP is kicking applicants like Torres to the curb the agency is failing to meet its hiring goals in 2017 then president Trump ordered border patrol to hire 5 000 new agents as a fiscal year 2021 there were an additional 99 agents working for CBP we have plenty of applicants anthonson told Fox News while standing next to the.
Rio Grande as a group of migrants prepared to cross into the U.S they just can't get through the whole process CBP spending on polygraph examinations meanwhile has increased Sevenfold since 2014. the capital Center for credibility assessment Corporation receives the most federal money for polygraph examination.
Services and CBP is its number one customer according to Federal contract records in the most recent fiscal year CBP paid cccac 7.64 million dollars primarily for polygraph examination services Staffing shortages and a continued surge of migrants across the southern border have made morale non-existent anfinson.
Said it's been that way for a while he said every time it's a change in administration things get better then things get worse and this is the worst it's ever been by far about 13 000 employees across all of CBP not just border patrol are expected to.
Retire in 2028 anfinson said we have to replace them somehow but if we can't even meet our yearly hiring goals we don't stand a chance he said anthonson would like to see the polygraph become more tailored toward career-specific behaviors rather than focusing on applicants entire lives he also thinks there should be more.
Scrutiny on examiners we've never ever heard of an instance where a polygraph examiner was sanctioned for their behavior or anything like that he said people just don't get hired ironically Taurus said she now works under a contract with CBP conducting background investigations on people.
Trying to get hired by the agency I have my security clearance she said but I'm not good enough to be a border patrol agent it just it doesn't make any sense German caution on Ukraine arms rooted in political culture Berlin AP Germany has become one of Ukraine's leading weapons suppliers in.
The 11 months since Russia's Invasion but Chancellor Olaf Shoals also has gained a reputation for hesitating to take each new Step generating impatience among allies Berlin's perceived foot dragging most recently on the leopard two battle tanks that Kiev has long sought is rooted at least partly in a post-world war II.
Political culture of military caution along with present-day worries about a possible escalation in the war on Friday Germany inched closer to a decision to deliver the tanks ordering a review of its leopard stocks in preparation for a possible green light there was still no commitment however defense minister Boris Pastorius.
Rejected the suggestion that Germany was standing in the way but said we have to balance all the pros and contras before we decide things like that just like that it's a pattern that has been repeated over the months as Shoals first held off pledging new heavier equipment then eventually agreed to do so.
Most recently Germany said in early January that it would send 40 martyr armored personnel carriers to Ukraine doing so in a joint announcement with the U.S which pledged 50 Bradley armored vehicles that decision followed months of calls for Berlin to send the Martyr and stoked pressure for it to move up another step.
To the leopard tank that is at least to some extent true Germany refused to provide lethal weapons before The Invasion started reflecting a political culture rooted in part in the memory of Germany's own history of aggression during the 20th century including the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.
No German Chancellor of no party wants to be seen out front in pushing a military agenda you want to try all other options before you resort to that Klein brockov said and therefore for domestic consumption it is seen as a positive thing for a German chancellor not to lead on this to be cautious to be resistant to have.
Tried all other options scholes does face calls from Germany's center-right opposition and summon his three-party governing coalition to be more proactive on military aid less so from his own center-left Social Democratic party which for decades was steeped in the legacy of Cold War rep rushman pursued by predecessor Willie.
Brandt in the early 1970s scholes decided early on that he does not want to lead militarily on Ukraine assistance Klein brockhoff said though he wants to be a good Ally and part of the alliance and in the middle of the pack but the cautious approach drives allies crazy and raises questions over whether.
They can count on the Germans kleinbrockoff acknowledged Berlin kept up its caution on the leopard tank even after Britain announced last week that it would provide Ukraine its own Challenger two tanks the hesitancy isn't just an issue between Berlin and Kiev since other.
Countries would need Germany's permission to send their own stocks of german-made leopards to Ukraine on Wednesday polish prime minister Mateus moraviessky said Warsaw would consider giving its tanks even without Berlin's permission consent is of secondary importance here we will either obtain it quickly or we.
Will do the right thing ourselves morvieski said British historian Timothy garton Ash wrote in the guardian and other newspapers this week that to its credit the German government's position on Military Support for Ukraine has moved a very long way since the eve of the Russia.
