More Than 1 in 3 CBP Employees Are of Hispanic Origin

In a year-end tally, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency is touting the “expanding” diversity in its ranks.

Through “diversity recruitment initiatives” and “outreach to underrepresented groups,” the agency says it grew its workforce in fiscal 2011 to a total of 59,820 employees–29,013 of them minorities.

“Within our workforce, diversity and inclusion remain priorities and important themes that run throughout the agency,” CBP said in a Dec. 19 news release.

CBP says 35 percent of its workforce is Hispanic. The percentage of females in the Border Patrol division rose 2.2 percent, and military veterans accounted for almost 20 percent of newly hired agents.

CBP says it “remains focused on eliminating barriers that restrict equal employment for all individuals and promoting an environment of cultural appreciation and awareness which supports the diversity and inclusiveness of our workforce.”

In FY 2011, the agency says it sponsored more than 340 U.S. military veteran hiring events, 124 events at institutions serving minorities, 90 disability events, and more than 650 other events to increase workplace diversity for underrepresented groups.

{snip}

Other notes from CBP’s yearend roundup:

U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry–described as a key indicator of illegal immigration–decreased to 340,252 in fiscal year 2011, down 53 percent since FY 2008 and one fifth of what they were at their peak in FY 2000.

{snip}