By Monty Siekerman
When I told friends that I had met two border patrol agents in Ada, the response was, "Why are they in Ada?"

The agents were at the ONU career fair to recruit more agents: 1,200 are needed immediately and perhaps many thousand more will be hired, if President Trump's plans come to fruition...and the pay is good.

Starting salaries are about $40,000, including overtime and weekend pay. After only four years, agents can look for $90,000 to $100,000 annually.

You don't have to be a college graduate to be hired.

The two agents at the career fair, both having served in the military, are stationed in Detroit mostly looking for terrorists, illegal immigrants, felons, narcotics, and human trafficking. Occasionally, they do head down I-75 into Ohio, especially when working a drug case.

Yes, some Canadians try to get into the U.S. and a few from Mexico and Central America try to illegally enter through Detroit. Also, a watchful eye is kept on those trying to sneak in from the Middle East, especially since nearby Dearborn has the largest concentration of Middle Easterners in the U.S.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is one of the Department of Homeland Security's largest agencies with a priority mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons out of the country. One can apply to be a border patrol agent, CBP officer, or air and marine agent by going to cbp.gov/careers.