To amend the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 with respect to waiving the polygraph examination requirement for former Federal law enforcement officers seeking employment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
The Border Patrol Recruitment Enhancement Act amends the Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to allow the CBP Commissioner to waive the polygraph exam requirement for three categories of qualified applicants: state/local law enforcement officers with 3+ years of service and a clean record who passed a polygraph within the last 10 years; federal law enforcement officers with 3+ years of service and a Top Secret security clearance; and military members or veterans with 3+ years of service, a Top Secret clearance, and honorable discharge. All waiver recipients must still pass standard suitability and background checks, and CBP retains authority to administer a polygraph if concerns arise during investigation. The waiver authority expires after 5 years. The bill requires annual CBP reports to Congress on waivers granted, denials, hiring outcomes, and disciplinary actions, plus GAO reviews every 5 years for 15 years comparing misconduct rates between waiver hires and standard hires.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to waive the mandatory polygraph examination requirement for qualified applicants from state/local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and the military, replacing it with background investigation and prior polygraph verification, to accelerate Border Patrol hiring.
Who Benefits
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection (faster hiring)
- State/local law enforcement officers seeking federal careers
- Military veterans transitioning to federal law enforcement
Who Bears Costs
- CBP Commissioner (new reporting requirements)
- GAO (15-year review mandate)
Key Policy Areas
{'domain': 'Homeland Security', 'evidence': 'Amends Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 to modify CBP hiring requirements'}, {'domain': 'Labor', 'evidence': 'Changes federal hiring process for law enforcement positions'}
Primary Purpose
Allows U.S. Customs and Border Protection to waive the mandatory polygraph examination requirement for qualified applicants from state/local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, and the military, replacing it with background investigation and prior polygraph verification, to accelerate Border Patrol hiring.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Remove a bottleneck in CBP hiring pipeline (polygraph exam backlog) by leveraging prior vetting of experienced law enforcement and military personnel"
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Gallego introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
CBP, CBP Commissioner, CBP applicants
CBP Commissioner faces effects in multiple directions
Positive-direction: Congressional oversight committees, Customs and Border Protection, State and local law enforcement officers
Negative-direction: CBP, CBP applicants receiving waivers, CBP waiver applicants, GAO
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- "comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General of the United States
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Any felony punishable by more than 1 year imprisonment, or any crime involving fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation
Offense warranting discharge, punitive discharge under Manual for Courts-Martial, or demotion as court-martial punishment
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology