Who says the government can’t create jobs?

The Border Patrol is hiring and people in the Seattle can actually make a decent wage.

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But the first thing applicants need to know is the agency is not called the Border Patrol.

“We get called that every day,” Jack Ramsey said. “I wish they’d change our name to that because we hear that more than Customs and Border Protection.”

Customs and Border Protection is hiring for jobs in Seattle, Blaine, and the southern border.

Ramsey says starting pay is in line with the base pay for teachers: between $35,000 and $37,000 a year. However, wages can increase an average of several thousand each year. Some of the highest wage-earners in Seattle are making about $68,000 with the opportunity for up to $30,000 worth of overtime pay with no further education required.

Ramsey says during the last fiscal year, the agency seized more than 9,000 pounds of drugs and $356,000 in undeclared currency.

Every day, the agency checks thousands of vehicles and hundreds of ports for illegal activity.

For those of you who enjoy Washington’s status as a state with legal marijuana, they will do a drug test on applicants.

As far as the vetting of applicants, Ramsey says it’s rigorous, but not what he would call “extreme.” The agency looks 10 years into someone’s history and does a polygraph test.

And to be very clear, being a Muslim does not disqualify you from a job with Customs and Border Protection.

“We represent the U.S. and what it looks like,” Ramsey said. “And that’s what makes us a great organization.”

That means having extensive ties with or having traveled to Russia does not disqualify you from a position with the agency.

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