The History of the Border Patrol

The first border patrolmen were mostly mail clerks. The agency tried desperately to recruit military veterans and men with law enforcement experience, but the vast majority of their new hires were just unemployed men who lived in border towns. By 19 27, the border patrol had been to hire inspectors who could not even pass civil service exams. About a quarter of everyone in the border patrol quit in their first month of the job.