Last year, the Inspector General’s office of the Department of Homeland Security had 230 ongoing corruption investigations related to Border Patrol and the FBI had more than 110 open border-related cases, according to the Washington Post
In total, that is 340 border-related corruption cases.
The job listing for a border patrol agent at USAjobs.gov lists the salary as ranging from $38,619.00 – $63,259.00 /year. Thus, it appears that an entry-level agent earns around 39k per year, which by most measures is not a well-compensated job.
In the vast expanse of the desert, without the watchful eyes anyone but themselves, it would be tempting for many agents to accept a bribe from a drug trafficker– after all, who does not want to vastly improve their financial position without having to do any work? Imagine $100,000, or more, in cash, shoved in your face, while knowing that the liklihood of being caught is relatively low.
It is impossible to know the amount of agents who have been able to resist the temptation of instantaneous work-free cash infusions. But the government data proves that a sizable amount have not resisted. Given that there are usually more crimes committed than detected, it also follows that the real number of corrupt border agents is likely higher than those caught.
U.S. citizens, at the same time, continue to use illicit drugs, spurring the cartels in Mexico and elsewhere to diligently do whatever they have to do–even mass murder–to provide the product on the market. Since many of those charged with safeguarding the routes of the drug-crossing points are in on the gig, the billions of dollars spent is a total, complete, and deplorable waste of funds. Worse, the collateral damage of the war–undocumented immigrants and Mexican citizens–lose their lives for nothing.
The “drug war”, in the end, is nothing more than the inertia of a nation that unreasonably refuses to give up on a futile task–the end of illicit drug use. The only alternative, although far from perfect and full of potential pitfalls, is to legalize everything. But that won’t happen, especially given that the Obama administration, and states such as Arizona, are barreling even further down the doomed enforcement way.
Tags: Border Patrol, Corruption, Drug War, Immigration
El Gringo Gigante 
August 30, 2010 at 2:03 pm |
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bryan Johnson, Bryan Johnson. Bryan Johnson said: In last fiscal year, there were 340 open corruption cases of border patrol agents: http://bit.ly/dbiyJE #Immigration #Corruption #Drugwar […]
September 2, 2010 at 1:00 pm |
Now here’s something we can agree on… A failed policy of “war” initiated by none another than disgraced president Richard Nixon has, to date, only enriched (if not created) organized crime and relegated intoxicating substances to “forbidden fruit” status with a chorus of intellectually dishonest rhetoric and political fearmongering that undermines any good-faith efforts to educate our youth on the dangers of drug use and addiction. What we have is a “drug war” propped up by a body of laws that, while written in a facially neutral manner, are enforced in a manner that is massively and pervasively biased and help to create a permanent caste of second class citizens that we can marginalize as “criminals.” Andale Gringo!
September 2, 2010 at 1:43 pm |
Carlos,
Pretty spot on there. This is also heavily related to immigration, as well, since corruption in Mexico, already bad as it is, is exacerbated by the lucrative drug trade, and thus the challenge of developing a troubled land becomes all but impossible.
September 2, 2010 at 5:02 pm |
I am going to delete it, but will respond via email.