Biden’s Border Patrol loses quarter of agents since 2020: report

Many have chalked the phenomenon up to the fact that under this administration, the crisis at the southern border has gotten to a point where the goals that drew people to become agents in the first place have become unachievable. CBP has over 19,000 agents and between Oct. 2020 and April 2024, 4281 agents left the agency.

That includes those who quit, were forced to retire, or retired early.

"Under Biden, things are the worst they have ever been by far," one Arizona-based agent told the Washington Examiner. "Agents are calling in all the time. You always hear, 'It doesn't matter,' or, 'What’s the point?' in reference to doing our job. Agents are afraid of ending up on the news for doing their job or getting in trouble for doing their job. There is no morale."

According to CBP data cited by the outlet, between fiscal 2021 and 2023, 3,665 agents left the force, with an additional 616 departing in the first half of FY2024.

While the number of agents who voluntarily quit has remained somewhat steady over the past ten years, the Biden administration has overseen a massive increase in those who chose to retire early.

Since Biden was elected, an average of 529 agents have left of their own volition. That's more than double the average of the preceding seven years.

Despite the rise in the number of agents growing disillusioned with the profession, CBP has reported an attrition rate of between 4 and 6 percent, with the force holding steady at around 25,000 members.

The Biden administration has also overseen a rise in suicides among CBP agents, namely among those on the front lines who deal with the daily horrors of the crisis at the southern border.

"We regularly see things that people should never see, like rotting human remains, abuse of every kind, babies and kids dying or dead," one agent said in an interview with the Free Press. "Do you know what that does to you over time? You have to shut down a part of yourself to keep going."