Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seen a massive boost in recruiting numbers after years of low morale under former President Joe Biden, according to an internal memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Under Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, CBP saw a massive 44% spike in applications from January to May 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the memo. Under Biden, CBP struggled to stem the tide of millions of migrants while the administration mostly ignored its requests for help, causing low recruitment figures while low morale caused suicides among agents to spike.
During the Biden years, CBP tallied a whopping 8.5 million border encounters, as well as over 1.7 million known gotaways. More than 250 migrants encountered at the southern border between 2021 and 2023 were on the terror watchlist.
On his way out of the agency, former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Chris Magnus said in 2022 morale was “the worst it’s ever been” in an email to CBP leaders. Magnus was reportedly told to step down by former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or else be fired.
Morale was such an issue that CBP even hired a “suicidologist” in early 2021 to address the spike in suicides, The Washington Examiner previously reported. Even as Biden attempted to stop the decline in manpower with better funding, border crossings continued going unchecked while the CBP’s ranks were depleted.
Trump issued an executive order cracking down on illegal immigration immediately when he entered office, while also undoing Biden-era directives that hampered enforcement on the ground. Border apprehensions plummeted during his first month in office, hitting a fifteen-year low in February, according to the DHS.
Other divisions under the DHS have also seen improvement in performance markers and recruitment under new management, according to the memo obtained by the DCNF.
The U.S. Coast Guard has seen an uptick in drug seizures, capturing 11% more cocaine in fiscal year 2025 so far than the entire preceding year, the memo reads. Over 4,250 new recruits have joined up, an increase of 1,200 relative to the same period of time in 2024, and the Coast Guard has seized over 110,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana worth more than $1.5 billion.
Additionally, the Secret Service also had a recruitment spike, drawing in 200% more applications so far this year.
“For four years, the previous administration demoralized and denied resources to our brave men and women in law enforcement, including in the Secret Service,” A DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “We are reinvigorating the Secret Service and providing it with the resources our brave and women need to do their jobs.”
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