A bipartisan group of four senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would create a 2,500-agent Border Patrol reserve force and increase agents’ pay by 14 percent.
The bill, which was introduced by Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), would also standardize professional development and training requirements for all Border Patrol agents.
“Every time I’ve visited with Border Patrol, they have made it clear that they need increased funding to recruit and retain agents,” Portman said in a statement. “At a time when our southern border crisis is heading towards a catastrophe, we must provide Border Patrol with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs.”
The senators said in press release the reserve force would increase the total number of Border Patrol agents to 20,500.
The bipartisan group also touted the proposed 14 percent pay raise as a way for Border Patrol salaries to be more competitive with other federal law enforcement agencies. Border Patrol agents’ salaries are based on factors like locality and amount of overtime, but agents on average are compensated between $70,234 and $111,407, depending on their grade level, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency has reported more than 200,000 monthly encounters at the border with migrants in several months so far this year, surpassing levels reached in past years.
Republicans have laid into Biden over the situation at the border amid the uptick in encounters.
“Biden continues to encourage illegal border crossers to enter the U.S., and our Border Patrol stand between U.S. citizens and people from 150 countries coming into our nation, potentially connected to the Mexican cartels or terrorist organizations worldwide,” Lankford said in a statement.
The bill was also endorsed by the president of the National Border Patrol Council, a labor union that represents Border Patrol agents.
The proposal additionally is sponsored by two border-state Democrats, including Kelly, who faces a tough reelection battle in November.
“Our bipartisan bill will give the hardworking men and women of the Border Patrol the support, resources and pay raises they deserve,” he said. “We’ll keep working with Republicans and Democrats to ensure that our law enforcement has the tools needed to recruit and retain agents so we can ensure a secure, fair and orderly process at the border.”