Border Patrol May Loosen Polygraph Hiring Requirement
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SAN DIEGO (AP) - The U.S. Border Patrol's parent agency could exempt many veterans and law enforcement officers from a requirement that new hires take a lie-detector test.
The idea is part of a proposal to meet President Donald Trump's order to add 5,000 agents. It was mentioned in a memo from the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and released by the agents' union.
The memo lays out a plan to build a force of 26,370 agents in five years.
Kevin McAleenan is the acting commissioner. He calls the polygraph a deterrent to hiring and a recruiting disadvantage.
The Associated Press reported in January that about two-thirds of job applicants fail the polygraph. That's more than double the average rate of law enforcement agencies that provided data under open-records requests.
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