Lots of good info in Zona's post.
Spanish is not a requirement for hire, but you will have to spend an extra 40 days in the academy if you are not proficient. The basic academy is 58 days.
The pay is decent, and there are bumps in pay based on location, night/weekend differentials, holiday pay etc. They used to have AUO (Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime) pay which added 25% to each paycheck but that has changed as of 1/1/16. AUO was a huge selling point for the BP because it would bump a starting salary of $40k up to $50k, bump a 5 year man up to $80k, and a 10 year man up to $120k+ (depending on GS-level). I am not familiar with the new overtime pay scale but the changes to AUO have pissed off many in the Patrol. If stacking cash is your main goal then go get a job in the trades.
Most agents follow one of three career paths:
- Go the academy, report to duty location, grind out a few years, leave the BP
- Go to academy, report to duty location, grind out around 5 years, then transfer to another Federal agency (ICE, Customs, US Marshalls, etc)
- Stick it out for 20, retire, start second career
If you think option one sounds good you shouldn't even waste your time. The pay during the first few years is not worth relocating to bum fuck desert and staring at line in the sand for 80% of your time.
If you have aspirations of a career in Federal Law Enforcement but don't want to be tied to the Southwest or the Border Patrol then option 2 is reasonable. Many guys from the east coast will go out west for 5 years, get some experience, build the resume, then transfer back home to a gig with another agency.
If you are on the 20 year plan you can create your own path. Some guys will do details in different areas to boost their resume for advancement or just to find a niche they enjoy. Some of the details include: ATVs, horse patrol, qualification training (firearms, use of force), canine handler, BORTAC (tactical/special response team), BORSTAR (search and rescue), UAVs, Academy Instructor, and snowmobiles (northern border). By acquiring experience in different areas it is easier to move up to supervisor positions and transfer to more appealing stations.
There are leadership opportunities for those who are motivated for such. I know a guy who started out as a PA (Patrol Agent), worked his way up to APAIC (#2 at a station), then transferred to DC as an Assistant Chief overseeing 3 sectors. He is retired now in his mid 50s living a very comfortable lifestyle.
A new agent will spend his first few years near the border with a good chance of being stationed in the middle of nowhere AZ, NM, or TX. Many agents will choose to live in bigger cities like Tucson, El Paso, etc and commute 1-2 hours back and forth each day to their station.
After 5 years or so agents can put in for transfers to better locales on the southern border. Northern border assignments are hard to get, it is mostly 10 year guys up there. Florida assignments are even harder to land. There is even a station in Aquadilla, PR but that mostly goes to Ricans who have 10 plus years.
Some cons:
-Live in the Southwest, probably in a shitty 5k-20k person town, for at least the first 5 years
-First few years as an agent are spent mostly on patrol. You drive a truck for hours on end, sit parked and stare at spot along the fence, and fight lots of boredom. Out of a 50 hour week you might have 10 hours of actual tracking or apprehending (if you are in a slow sector)
-Some stations are strictly checkpoints. You get to stand on your feet for hours at a time asking people to state their citizenship. When not doing this you are sitting at a desk watching movies or bullshitting with your mates.
-Dealing with the bureaucracy that goes along with the Federal Government (sequesters, shut downs, getting your AUO stripped, PC bullshit)
-Working nights, weekends, and holidays. Most stations have rotating shifts where you spend X months on days, then swings, then mids. You can request time off but this isn't a 9-5 M-F gig.
Some pros:
-Live in the Southwest, there is some cool shit in AZ/NM if you are into outdoors stuff. Also you are not far from CO, UT, CA.
-Mexican women everywhere. These are not your high end chicks that you find in Miami or Bogota, but there are plenty of good looking senoritas who like to fuck, cook, and clean. Just be careful, they also like to make babies, especially with gringos that have a federal job with federal benefits.
-Training in various details (mentioned above) if you choose, after your first few years. Some of them are pretty damn cool and you get to play with some badass toys.
-Opportunities for advancement
-Opportunities for travel (relocating for several years, not weekend vacations)
-Mostly masculine work environment, lots of former military and other LEOs go into the Patrol.
-If you are in a busy sector the action is pretty constant, with daily apprehensions, tracking, and adrenaline pumping situations.
-Keeping America Safe
Here are two websites that have lots of info:
Honor First (unofficial BP site)
Some job site that goes into detail on working in the Patrol
If you are fired up about Trump and think a job with the Border Patrol would be nothing but driving around the desert in Humvees chasing down drug smugglers and coyotes while blasting Kid Rock and smoking a Marlboro.................... then you are correct! (minus the Humvee, you are in a Tahoe or F150 most likely). If you are stationed in a high volume area (Tucson Sector and RGV Sector) then this is very much what the job entails.
However, if you are stationed in a slower area (CA, NM, W TX) then it is a lot more of this:
Keep us updated if you decide to proceed. The application/background check process is long though, start now if you are serious.