President Trump has cleared a $297-million contract to Accenture to hire 5,000 Border Patrol agents. Customs and Border Protection “is struggling to meet minimum staffing levels mandated by Congress and is losing more agents per year than it hires,” Los Angeles Times reported.
The agency had put aside $20 million in the spring to complete work on eight prototype border walls in Otay Mesa, which was completed in October.
The current contract is for five years and Accenture will be paid $42.6 million in the first year, the Times reported. The report said the company will manage “the full life cycle of the hiring process.” The international services corporation will also do “hard-hitting, targeted recruitment campaign consisting of promoting [Customs and Border Protection] law enforcement careers and opportunities.”
Awarded in November, the contract involves the hiring of 5,000 Border Patrol agents, 2,000 customs officers and 500 personnel for the Office of Air and Marine Operations. In total, there were five bidders for the federal contract.
However, some view that the contract does not make much sense.
“They’re spending almost $40,000 per hire,” said Alex Nowrasteh, a research analyst at the Cato Institute, LA Times reported. “Just off the bat that seems like a pretty desperate move.”
The write-up mentioned that the agency will end up spending $39,600 per new hire if the contract continues for full five years. “That’s just below the $39,738 starting pay for a customs officer,” it added.
In response, CBP said the expenditure estimates are wrong. “Not unlike other major companies and organizations, we are expanding our recruiting and hiring efforts to find better, more effective ways to recruit, hire and retain frontline personnel,” CBP said in a statement.
Apparently, CBP is the biggest federal law enforcement agency that has more than 40,000 officers and agents in Border Patrol and customs.