Border Agents at the Port Angeles station have a variety of air and sea vehicles at their disposal, and as an international shipping route lies just beyond the harbor, there is no lack of work inspecting and ensuring all commercial traffic flows according to law and regulation. There is additional ferry traffic to regulate and inspect, which delivers people from across the strait in Canada.
Border Agents know better than to lower their guard. Border Patrol jobs in Port Angeles, though in a seemingly remote part of the country, are just as important as any other Border Patrol job in the country where Agents must maintain vigilance.
CBP Officers Foil Al Qaeda Plot in Port Angeles
Port Angeles is located about 70 miles west of Seattle and only 18 miles across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It was the last place anyone would have expected to find an Al Qaeda operative. Surrounded by the Olympic Mountain Range and Olympic National Rainforest on one side, and the cold Pacific Ocean on the other, the Port Angeles Station would seem to be tucked far enough away in a peaceful corner of the country to be invulnerable to border problems. The last time it was of strategic importance was during World War Two when Japanese submarines were patrolling its waters. Border Patrol jobs in Port Angeles have not decreased in demand since that time.
Before most Americans had ever heard of Al Qaeda, a man who had trained with the terrorist group in Afghanistan arrived by ferry early one evening in Port Angeles shortly before Christmas in 1999. As is routine after getting off the ferry, the man was questioned by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer (who now has a medal named after her) and when he gave evasive answers, was referred for a secondary inspection.
It was at this point that CBP Officers noticed bags of white powder and improvised detonation timers in his car. Sensing he was caught, the suspect took off running, only to be apprehended after a few blocks later. As it would turn out, the man just detained by CBP Officers would become known as the “Millennium Bomber” who planned to blow up the Los Angeles Airport at the turn of the year in an Al Qaeda plot. Because of Border Patrol jobs in Port Angeles, countless lives were saved.
Career Requirements as a CBP Officer in Port Angeles
To qualify for CBP Officer or Border Patrol Agent jobs, candidates must meet the following basic qualifications:
- U.S. Citizenship
- Be able to pass a thorough background check
- Knowledge of, or willingness to learn, the Spanish language
- Under 40 years at the time of application (with some exceptions)
- No convictions for domestic violence
- Pass a drug and polygraph test