PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The most recent numbers from Customs and Border Protection indicate around 19,300 border patrol agents are on the job any given day and the agency says they need more.

Last week, Arizona’s Family reported about ICE dropping age limits to entice more applicants. There’s also a national push to rehire retired agents .

This recruitment campaign comes after the One Big Beautiful Bill allocated $4.1 billion to hire and train more agents and an additional $2 billion for retention, which includes performance bonuses.

“This has never happened before,” said a former CBP officer that spent more than two decades in the field. He wants to be anonymous for this story.

He said CBP’s current effort to rehire retired agents on a large scale is a new approach. So why now?

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