Gal­lego becomes first Demo­c­rat to back bor­der bill to expand CBP hir­ing 

EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Ruben Gal­lego (D‑AZ) became the first Demo­c­rat to back a new bor­der-relat­ed bill that would help expand hir­ing for U.S. Cus­toms and Bor­der Pro­tec­tion appli­cants. 
The Ari­zona Demo­c­rat run­ning for Arizona’s Sen­ate seat, left vacant by Sen. Kyrsten Sine­ma (I‑AZ), is sup­port­ing the Anti-Bor­der Cor­rup­tion Improve­ment Act, which would remove the poly­graph require­ment for those apply­ing for posi­tions at CBP who have pre­vi­ous law enforce­ment expe­ri­ence or mil­i­tary secu­ri­ty clear­ances. 
There have been wide­spread recruit­ment prob­lems, and experts believe by elim­i­nat­ing this require­ment, an addi­tion­al 5,000 Bor­der Patrol agents could be hired.
“When I meet with CBP and bor­der com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers, one of the first things they men­tion to me is the short­age of CBP offi­cers,” Gal­lego said in a state­ment pro­vid­ed to the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er. “Secur­ing our bor­der should be a bipar­ti­san issue, which is why I’m proud to be the first to cross the aisle and sup­port this com­mon­sense leg­is­la­tion to expe­dite CBP hir­ing.”
“Law enforce­ment offi­cers and vet­er­ans who have alrea …