SEATTLE - Being a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer can be a very demanding job physically and mentally. With millions of migrants and asylum seekers trying to enter the United States every year by any means necessary, CBP agents often have to put their bodies on the line and expose themselves to dangerous and traumatic situations.
Dealing with transnational criminal organizations, extreme weather conditions, along with the challenges inherent in border enforcement, has contributed to a mental health crisis within CBP.
Earlier this month, The Latin Times reported some changes the agency is trying to make in order to reduce its high-number of suicides. Peer support programs as well as the hiring of psychologists are two of the measures being applied by Border Patrol in order to combat its mental health problem among officers.
Agents now count with access to resilience training and initiatives such as backup childcare services and a specialized K-9 program designed to provide emotional support.
The application of these programs came in response to a concerning report by USA Today that revealed that suicides among Border Patrol officers hit a concerning 15-count in 2022.
Pete Jaquez, the CBP official overseeing employee wellness and resilience, told the Washington Examiner that, in the two years since the agency started implementing new measures to help agents suffering of mental health issues, the organization has shifted to a more proactive rather than reactive approach, addressing problems upstream instead of once in crisis or after an employee's death.
"We're removing the stigma of asking for help as a negative. We're removing the stigma of saying that having a mental health issue is a career-ending issue because this is what we believe — mental health injuries are like physical health injuries," Jaquez said. "You have to get treated, and you have to get rehabilitation to get better."
Between 2007 and 2022, CBP saw an average of nine to 10 employees die by suicide per year. That prompted CBP to hire a "suicidologist" in 2021, making it the first civilian government agency with such a position. Dr. Kent Corso, a clinical psychologist, led an assessment of the organization's culture and then made recommendations and changes.
Corso told the Washington Examiner that he worked for CBP for 38 months and left his post in May. He maintains that, despite the increase of traffic from migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers, the situation at the Southern border was "in no way" the cause of suicide and, without violating the privacy of former employees, said the deaths were primarily family and relationship related.
"When I started at CBP, I knew it was critical to help change the culture. I recognized we needed to reframe how leaders think about stress, wellness, and suicide in order to make short and long term culture change," Corso said.
In recent months, CBP has taken huge steps towards offering employees the resources they need. For example, under Corso, the agency created and assigned operational psychologists and resilience specialists to the field to help staff in person, in real time.
In May 2023, CBP also implemented a program known as Safe Harbor Policy, which allows employees who admit they are suicidal to receive the proper help and not just be placed on desk duty.
On top of that, Congress increased funding to cover the costs of employee assistance programs to outside professional help for assistance beyond general counseling. Backup care was also created as a way to allow employees to get support caring for a child, family member or even a pet in critical circumstances so that they avoid missing work.
The swift actions taken by CBP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to expand mental health support for its agents in the past 18 months has been a success, lowering the volume of suicides to just seven reported cases this year. In 2023, the federal agency reported eight suicides.
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