Border Patrol employing therapy dogs to reduce agent suicides

The Border Patrol has been using canines since 1986. It began by training four dogs to detect concealed humans and narcotic drugs. During their first five months of service, the four dogs and their handlers assisted in apprehending concealed migrants and in the seizure of more than $150 million in narcotics. The program was so successful that by the end of 1988, the agency had increased it to 79 canine teams.

The Border Patrol recently expanded the program to include therapy dogs, because 14 of its agents committed suicide in 2022. 

It established a Support Canine Program to provide support for agents suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression. Chaplains and agents from the agency’s Peer Support and Chaplaincy programs are using specially trained therapy dogs to help these agents.

Stress expected to increase

The Border Patrol is reportedly preparing for record numbers of illegal border crossings — as many as 14,000 people per day — when Title 42 is terminated. Agent morale is hitting record lows already.  

Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott attributes the low morale to being overwhelmed by the skyrocketing increase in illegal crossings and the need to process them. The agents are taken away from the work they joined the Border Patrol to do and are required to pick up large groups of undocumented asylum seekers and process them at makeshift processing centers. 

The sections of the border the agents are supposed to be patrolling are left open while they are working at the processing centers.

And most illegal crossers who are not expelled under Title 42 are released into the United States.  

This isn’t the way to treat agents who are risking their lives to secure the border.

Being a Border Patrol agent is a very dangerous job. According to agency statistics, 42 agents have lost their lives during Biden’s presidency. 

Todd Bensman claims that the administration is using an “immigration magic trick” to cover up the record number of illegal crossings by granting humanitarian parole to migrants who want to enter the United States without visas or other valid entry documents before they reach the border instead of after they make an illegal crossing. This makes their entries “legal.”

This may fool the public, but I don’t think it is going to fool the Border Patrol agents.

Using therapy dogs

The Border Patrol is not the only agency that is using therapy dogs to help people who are dealing with the stress of dangerous, frustrating jobs. The army is using therapy dogs to help soldiers who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to return to civilian life.  

People with PTSD have intense, disturbing thoughts and feelings that last long after the traumatic event has ended. They may experience sadness, fear or anger, and they may feel estranged from other people.

Approximately 20 veterans die by suicide every day.

The “K9s For Warriors” program pairs veterans with therapy dogs during a three-week training period, which gives them an opportunity to bond with the canine companions who will provide much-needed emotional support.  

It is the nation’s largest provider of service dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD. A Warrior Trainer teaches the soldiers the finer points of handling their dog. Most of the therapy dogs are rescued from shelters. This saves many dogs from euthanasia and gives them purpose.   

When the veterans finish the program, they return to their homes with their therapy dogs, and a warrior operations team maintains regular contact with them to provide additional assistance if it is needed.

Graduates of this program have been able to live a life that they previously did not think was possible. They have reunited with their families, gone back to school, and found renewed enjoyment in life.

Congressional help

Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) have introduced a bipartisan bill to establish an anti-suicide taskforce that would assess the underlying factors leading to high suicide rates among Border Patrol agents: the “Taking Action to Prevent Suicide (TAPS) Act.”

The taskforce would be comprised of leadership from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, labor unions representing Border Patrol agents, and experts in the field of suicide prevention. It also would incorporate feedback from the families of the affected agents.  

The taskforce would be required to submit a report containing recommendations for a comprehensive policy to prevent suicides and improve mental health resiliency initiatives.

Perhaps the bill also should include funding earmarked for an expansion of the canine support program, so that it could provide trained therapy dogs for individual agents the way the “K9s For Warriors” program does. 

The TAPs Act would save lives. But it wouldn’t eliminate the frustration the agents experience when the illegal crossers they risk their lives to apprehend are released into the interior of the country, or when they are forced to leave open the sections of the border they are supposed to be patrolling while they are processing large groups of asylum seekers.

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years. Follow him at: https://nolanhillop-eds.blogspot.com