Several Border Patrol agents have described increasing mental health issues among their ranks.
Describing the horrors witnessed for the job, one agent told the Free Press, “We regularly see things that people should never see, like rotting human remains, abuse of every kind, babies and kids dying or dead.”
“Do you know what that does to you over time?” he asked. “You have to shut down a part of yourself to keep going.”
Retired chief border agent of Yuma, Arizona, Chris Clem emphasized that many agents are “numb” to the horrors encountered at the border.
“We all knew under this administration there’d be a change,” he explained. “We expect that every time there’s a political change. But when it turned out that the job became nothing more than processing and releasing these people, that was very hard to take.”
“A lot of agents are just trying to go to work and survive,” Clem added. “And that’s not where you want to be when you’re in law enforcement.”
National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told the outlet, “We recognize when you sign up for law enforcement that you’re going to be thrust into situations that can be very, very stressful. You’re willing to accept that stress if you feel like you’re accomplishing something, and right now, there is no sense of accomplishment.”
In 2022, 14 CBP agents committed suicide, almost double the number from before Joe Biden became president.
Illegal immigrants are also swarming the northern border.
Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia shared on social media that the Swanton sector “continues to encounter an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants.”
There were “well over” 1,400 apprehensions in April, surpassing the total number of apprehensions in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 combined.