Border Patrol Sees a Spike in Suicides Under Biden

State of the Union: Increased pressures have caused suicides to nearly double since 2020.

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Since 2020, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has seen “skyrocketing” rates of suicides among its agents. In 2022, the most recent year for which CBP has published data, there were 14 suicides among Border Patrol agents, nearly three times the number of CBP suicides in 2014, and almost twice the amount reported in 2020.

This increase in the rate has been due to both the increases in illegal border crossings—with there being over 8.1 million since the beginning of Biden’s term in 2021—as well as an overall sense of “abandonment” by the Biden administration. 

Another cause of the suicide rate is the grotesque carnage left in the wake of human traffickers on the border. It is not uncommon for CBP agents to find human remains, dead or dying children, and “abuse of every kind” perpetrated by human traffickers and smugglers.  

The CBP maintains an active suicide prevention program and provides all CBP employees and their families with free confidential counseling covered by their Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Those who enroll in this program, however, get reassigned to desk jobs, face pay cuts, and are placed under the same protocol as agents under disciplinary action. Other forces securing the border have also faced suicides in recent years, with the Texas Military Department reporting that two National Guardsmen had died by suicide in 2021.

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