The Border Patrol in the Tucson Sector has hired 44 new agents as the agency continues to push for more staffing.
The new agents are going to be assigned in Douglas, Ajo and Willcox stations after they graduate from the Border Patrol Academy in New Mexico.
The Tucson Sector comprises most of Arizona and last year included about 3,800 agents. That's about double the number of agents in the Tucson sector in the early 2000s when the agency began to expand dramatically.
The Border Patrol has been pushing to hire more agents for several years. It's been recruiting at major sporting events and music festivals like the Country Thunder festival in Florence, Arizona, earlier this year.
Newly hired agents have to complete 66 days of basic training and 40 days of Spanish-language training.
