WASHINGTON – Trump administration officials say the U.S. Border Patrol won't lower hiring standards to satisfy the president's order to add 5,000 agents and will need several years to hit its target.
A precise timeline has not been set, but one official says the goal is to hire as many agents as possible in four or five years. Another official says it won't happen overnight.
Officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency, would speak only on condition of anonymity, despite President Donald Trump's insistence that reporters should only quote people by name.
The hiring surge is a key piece of Trump's immigration orders that has drawn less attention than his travel ban and plans to erect a wall on the border with Mexico.
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