During an interview with NewsNation aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Ranking Member of the Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) acknowledged that low morale among Border Patrol agents is because the agents are overworked and don’t have enough resources, but also stated that COVID-19 is a factor and that you can’t hire agents fast enough.
Correa said, “They’re being overworked. They’re doing an outstanding job with what they have. The problem is, you can’t get enough border agents. You can’t get enough resources there. You don’t have enough dogs, technology to help them do their job, forced overtime.”
Host Elizabeth Vargas then cut in to ask whose fault that is.
Correa answered, “The system. We can’t hire border agents fast enough. The background checks are impossible to pass. So, you’ve got a situation where you can’t hire them fast enough. And that’s something that we’ve been working on for years. Then, of course, you have COVID-19. A lot of those agents are overworked, their family members — they can’t spend enough time with the family, a lot of them are single parents. They don’t have childcare. So, it messes with your life.”
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