Immigration Ain't Easy Ep. 5: Jenn Budd, Border Patrol Agent Turned Immigrant Rights Activist

Immigration Ain't Easy

Jenn Budd went from high-ranking Border Patrol Agent to immigrant rights activist. Her odyssey didn’t come without life-altering experiences including the survival of horrific hazing, sexual harassment and a sexual assault while serving in the Border Patrol. This episode delves into Jenn’s survival from mental health struggles that stemmed primarily from her several years in the Border Patrol. Jenn has courageously blown the whistle on the pervasive abuses by the Border Patrol. She details this in her memoir, “Against the Wall”. Her outspokenness has received high praise from many in the human rights community and beyond.

In Jenn’s words: “I was a Senior Patrol Agent with the US Border Patrol in San Diego, a Senior Intelligence Agent at San Diego Sector Headquarters and an Acting Supervisory Border Patrol Agent from 1995 to 2001 when I resigned in protest due to the rampant corruption and brutality I witnessed on a daily basis. After nearly 30 years of border experience on both sides of the issues, I have come to the realization that our immigration policies have created an intentional brutal obstacle of death for asylum seekers. Though I used to wear the green uniform in pride, I have come to realize that the US is violating human rights and committing human atrocities with their immigration systems. This includes detaining non-criminal immigrants, intentionally limiting legal pathways to immigration that then force people to cross in the most dangerous of terrain, deterrence policies that do not deter but intentionally kill migrants, deadly pursuits that kill innocent Americans as well as migrants, inhumane open air detention sites, and child separation. My goal is to expose the truth about our brutal immigration policies and the criminality of the US Border Patrol.”

If you want to purchase Jenn’s book: https://heliotropebooks.com/books/against-the-wall-my-journey-from-border-patrol-agent-to-immigration-rights-activist/

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode covers subject-matter that may be triggering to some. It involves discussion of sexual assault, hazing, suicide and mental health struggles.