Border Patrol morale goes through the roof, 'dramatically' changed under Trump administration

Fox News

2 days ago

TUCSON SECTOR, ARIZONA– Under the bright sun, Border Patrol agents Daniel Hernandez and Teresa Fast glisten with sweat as they stride along the rusted fence separating the United States and Mexico. They revealed the reality of what life is like working at the border.
"A few months ago, before the election and before the previous administration, we were mostly doing processing of detained individuals," Hernandez told Fox News Digital. "That's an administrative duty that is part of our job, but it used to be a small sliver of it, [and we were] doing a large portion of that. Now it's inverse."
"Now we're doing small slivers of the processing, and we're doing the bulk of patrolling duties. Most of our agents are out there patrolling."
"We're historically one of the busiest sectors," the homeland security agent said. "We're at [a] 91% reduction [rate] over last year's amounts, but that's because we're out here every single day."
"If we were to take our foot off the gas and just assume the border's secure, then we would lose what we had gained. So every single day we have to invest in patrolling," he added.
According to the White House, as of April 28 of this year, illegal border crossings "are down by 95%" when compared to numbers under the Biden administration.
Previously restrained by budget cuts that impeded the completion of their duties, the border patrol agents communicated a renewed sense of faith for increasing safety for all involved.
"People are less inclined to climb a fence of this magnitude," Hernandez relayed while pointing to the southern border wall. "If they do, they have to go up high, then our cameras or our agents can spot them if they go up high. So that's the advantage of having robust infrastructure on the border that buys us time to get here."
"Smugglers will try anything. It's shocking that they will risk somebody's life by getting them up on a really small, handmade ladder," he continued. "[It's one] way somebody might try to defeat the border wall… and people will always try."
The empathy portrayed by agents when considering the human element of deportations and illegal crossings is an echoed sentiment among Tucson sector Border Patrol chief, Sean McGoffin.
"The cartels treat people as a commodity rather than as human beings. It's up to us to reintroduce that element of humanity and make sure we're saving the lives of those individuals the cartels leave behind. One of the great things we do in the Border Patrol — though it's rarely talked about — is the rescues we perform each and every day," the CBP Chief told Fox News Digital.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fast added, "The men and the women of the patrol are really what makes it run. That's what keeps our country safer, the people who are giving up those games with their kids and their [holidays] and working night shifts – that's what keeps our country safe. That's really what it is, the men and the women of the border patrol."