Should Law Enforcement, Military Personnel and Veterans be Able to Get Waivers From Border Protection’s Polygraph Requirement? (H.R. 2213)

What is H.R. 2213?

(Updated July 15, 2021)

This bill would seek to alleviate a staffing shortage at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by granting waivers to the agency’s polygraph requirement for qualified law enforcement officers, members of the Armed Forces, and veterans. It would also impose reporting requirements he waiver authority would sunset five years after this bill is enacted.

An applicant would need to meet the following specific criteria, in addition to not engaging in criminal activity or being under investigation for such activity or misconduct:

• State and local law enforcement officers would have to have served for at least three continuous years, have the ability to arrest or apprehend someone, and have completed a successful polygraph in their current job.

• Federal law enforcement officers would have to have served for at least three continuous years; have the ability to arrest or apprehend someone, use a weapon, or serve a warrant; and hold a current/in-scope Tier 4 background investigation or Tier 5 single-scope background check in their current job.

• Members of the Armed Forces or veterans would need to have served at least three years, held a security clearance in the last five years, have undergone a current/in-scope Tier 4 background investigation or Tier 5 single-scope background check in the last five years, not gained their clearance through a waiver, and have received or be eligible for an honorable discharge.

Within one year of the bill’s enactment and every four years thereafter, CBP would be required to provide Congress with a report about the number of waivers requested, granted, and denied, the reasons for denial, and the final employment outcome for the application in question.

Argument in favor

The law enforcement officers and members of the military who this bill waives CBP’s polygraph requirement for applicants who’ve already taken one or been thoroughly vetted in their current jobs through a background check, so an additional polygraph test is unnecessary.

Argument opposed

Customs and Border Protection has a polygraph requirement in place for a reason — to ensure that only qualified people are hired. There shouldn’t be an option to waive that requirement for law enforcement or military personnel with qualifying experience.

Impact

Law enforcement and military personnel looking to work for CBP; and CBP.

Cost of H.R. 2213

The CBO estimates that enacting this bill wouldn’t affect spending or revenues.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced this bill to give CBP the ability to expedite the hiring of existing law enforcement officers and veterans to fill a shortage of officers and agents by exempting such applicants from polygraph requirements:

“Fully staffing our CBP officers at our ports of entry and Border Patrol agents between the ports of entry is vital for security and economic growth of our communities and nation. These shortages have grown worse over the last several years. These common sense discretionary tools will give the CBP Commissioner the ability to transition those who have taken an oath and put their lives on the line for us already into these critical positions more expeditiously while continuing to provide safeguards against corruption.”

This legislation passed the House Homeland Security Committee on a voice vote and has the support of nine bipartisan cosponsors, including six Republicans and three Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) Press Release
  
• CBO Cost Estimate
  
• Republican Policy Committee
  
• Crowdpac (Opposed)