I need to get this off my chest, so here it goes.

I took the Border Patrol written test in 2010 and passed. I didn't hear anything from them until Nov 2012. I flew to El Paso for the Oral boards, and passed. The next phase was the medical, in which i'm still beating myself up about.  leading up to this, all I heard from people was "you have to be totally honest about everything." so on the medical forms, it asks about medication taken in the past.  I was prescribed Ritalin a few years back after my Father died after I turned down anti-depressants. it was a tough time for me but I stopped taking it because it wasn't doing anything for me.  I was simply thinking of Medicine that was still in my house and I listed the Ritalin. I then received a letter from the Medical devision demanding that I send a letter from my Doctor clearing me for the position which I sent them. The next demand from them, was for me to pay $1,500 to take a special Police Psych exam and submit that to them. This whole thing was starting to get blown out of proportion.   I took the exam and received a "fit for duty" status. After submitting that to the med division, I received a letter stating that they "don't think it would be safe for me to become an agent." I am devastated and I can't seem to get over it. I was so close to getting my dream job and these people think I'm crazy.  I't bothers me that these guy's can play God and ruin your life.  I'm trying to figure out some sort of recourse.  Any advice would be helpful>

This also happened to me it's  bullshiit 

This post has been edited to delete an apparently unintentionally attached file. -- AntiPolygraph.org Administrator

here it is

Twoblock wrote on Dec 30^th, 2013 at 7:09pm:



I really do wish that some attorney would come by this website and for once, do the right thing.   
Thank you for your  Due-diligence and to everyone here trying to help.   

I've been reading here for years, and yet, to date, nothing in the U.S. has been done, and lives are literally being ruined due to this outrageous and illegal process being used.   

George W. Maschke,
I had a similar experience with CBP. I applied for the CBPO position on both the 2012 and 2013 job announcements. I am a disabled veteran as well. I passed every portion including the Polygraph in 2012 and tripled the standard during their fitness test but my process was stalled due to an erroneous entry in my VA Medical Records and a request for my full Military Discharge records with Reason for Decision. I requested the my full record which at the time was in another state and was brought to the Newark VA Regional Office. CBP gave me 10 business days but the records took over 8 weeks. So even with an extension the records were received out of time and my offer was retracted which I accepted. I reapplied within less than a month for the 2013 Announcement so the items that I previously passed were still valid. The Medical records were brought up again but this time I had my full record available. I went to the VA for a referral for a Family Counselor for me and my wife for the loss of two children (Grief Counseling). During this application process I was asked to undergo multiple evaluations at my own expense one of which was an Orthopedic evaluation for something in my Service Connected record. That Doctor reviewed my medical records during the evaluation, saw the referral request for a Family Counselor and in his evaluation report he stated "Patient has a History of PTSD"! I have never had PTSD, was never Hospitalized nor Medicated for that or any Mental Health issue in my entire life. I was then subjected to 5 or 6 Mental Health evaluations even though the referring Mental Health practitioner stated that the Patient has never had PTSD, the Orthopedic Doctor (who is not a mental health practitioner and in no place to make that determination) officially corrected my VA Medical record to reflect the same, wrote a letter of apology for the grievous error and his Section Chief personally gave me an updated Orthopedic evaluation to no avail. CBP continued to insist I had PTSD even though they had my Full Ser4vice Record and evidence to the contrary. I filed and EEOC complaint Pro Se for Violations of both USSERA and the Vietnam Era Veteran's Act (Discrimination Against a Disabled Veteran and Discrimination for a "Perceived Disability") which is presently before an Administrative Federal Judge. I applied for the 2014 Job Announcement and was asked for an outside evaluation again but this time along with the Referring VA Doctor's records I paid $600 for a Psychological Evaluation by an Agency that does Psych-Evals for all levels of Law Enforcement. I received a PASS on that evaluation and the Medical was no longer an issue. At the same time I applied for a job with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and received a tentative offer. During this process I was subjected to 4 Polygraph examinations at the Newark Office and was told that there was something wrong with each exam. next I was asked to go up to JFK Airport for a Final Exam with John Gordon and received a FAIL on the same Polygraph that I passed a little over a year before so they retracted their offer. Now at the Pre-Trial Conference with the Administrative Judge CBP's Attorney tried to introduce the information of the failed 2014 Polygraph (even though I previously passed the same exam Administered by Mr. Gordon). The Judge denied their request stating that 2014 application process has no bearing on the case and or complaint of Discrimination. I have shared both similar and different circumstances as did Username "11x-RANGER". The Attorney requested Formal Mediation to settle the complaint. I went to Mediation in an effort to settle this matter. All I wanted originally was to get past this obstacle and be placed in the next academy class but since I have a final Offer from DHS/ICE the job was no longer an issue. At Mediation made an insulting offer for their multiple counts of Discrimination which the Attorney stated was for my "INCONVENIENCE"! I rejected their offer and they spent the rest of the day sabotaging the Mediation. Now I have no choice but to go before the Administrative Judge for a fair remedy. CBP is banking on the fact that due to my ignorance of EEOC Law and Procedure they may be able to win the case. I won't drop the case because if the Judge rules in my favor, it will set Legal Precedence and will help other Veterans that become victims of discrimination. The whole point is even if I had PTSD, which I do not, it is not a disqualifying condition of employment. I personally know several Law Enforcement Officers that work for ICE (which is a sister Agency of CBP and both under DHS) that are service connected for PTSD, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom War Veterans and it does not affect their job. I, on the other hand, do not have the condition, was erroneously labeled as having PTSD and denied employment due to Discrimination of my Service Connected Disability.

I received notification a few days ago regarding a failed polygraph from CPB too.  My experience is very similar to many of yours.  I'm a Veteran in my early 30's, I've held a TS/SCI since 2007, I have 10 years of HUMINT experience, I currently serve in a reserve component, and I previously worked as a Police Officer.  The military no longer uses a polygraph as part of the TS/SCI process, probably because there is no reason to do so.  I was administered a polygraph test during pre-employment screening when I was a police officer and passed that test with no issues.   
I have never been comfortable with the polygraph process.  I am familiar with the test due to my HUMINT and law enforcement backgrounds.  I feel like I’m being treated like a terrorist or criminal when if I’m being given the test.  I was given the test by a polygrapher in west Texas named Keith Kyle.  I was immediately uncomfortable talking to him.  He is an older, white male, with a bald head, and serial killer blue eyes.  To do not feel at ease when people like him try to act buddy-buddy with me, I do not know him, he is not my friend, and is not there to help me; he is there to earn a nice day of GS-14 pay which he will get no matter how my day goes.  I do not appreciate when people run approaches on me.  His personal stories he told to try to relate to me to try to illicit information were not believable, and I was in interested in hearing them.
Many of his questions he asked before hooking me up to the machine were not appropriate, and caused a lot of anxiety during test.  None of these involved anything that would make me unsuitable.  He asked if I had been raped or sexually assaulted.  I have been on two occasions, but I said no because both were situations that were “grey areas” and I did not want to discuss this with the creepy looking middle, aged male polygrapher.  It’s not the age or gender, it’s the polygrapher part, it’s not his job to try to get female applicants to discuss being victims of sexual assault.  These awkward questions caused me to think about the incident sporadically throughout the test.   He also discussed my family life, my parents disowned me about 10 years ago, which was hurtful, and not something I should have got questioned about in depth since this is not his job.  He also had no place digging when I said I don’t have children, my e-quip says I don’t have children, he does not need to dig on why, I’m unmarried and over 30, that ship has sailed and it’s not by choice.  I was upset prior to being hooked up due to being forced to discuss irrelevant personal and relationship issues.   
During the actual test, I was truthful and not hiding anything.  I had trouble sitting still for a few reasons; I use mentholated foot powder due to athlete’s foot so my feet were tingling, the padded office chair forced me to sit in an unnatural leaning back position, and the polygrapher used a large blood pressure cuff on my forearm causing lot of discomfort.  The large blood pressure cuff was probably not meant for my forearm, I am fairly petit and it is meant for the upper arm of someone larger.  My hand and wrist were tomato red and swollen the whole time, and the next day my whole forearm was covered in small bruises.  I found that due to the discomfort of the devices my body would not allow me to breath in a natural rhythm when I was hooked up.  This is a fairly common response to pain or discomfort.  He continuously harped on me to breathe normally during the test, but I couldn’t, telling someone to breath naturally seems like an oxymoron.  Later in the test he decided use “silent answers,” this concerned me because I worried that he could not tell how I was answering the questions.  The process took almost 8 hours, which was the worst 8 hours I’ve experienced in a very long time.   
The polygrapher determined that I had committed some sort of serious crime and was lying about it.  I have never committed any serious crime and could not recall any non-serious crimes I had committed either.  During the test I answered honestly, but found myself scraping my mind for any occurrence that would relate to the scenario I was asked about.  I’m the type of person who when asked the control question “are the lights on” I looked up to see if there were one or two bulbs illuminated since lights was plural in the question.  He also accused me of “using something to help myself with the test, but it didn’t work.”  I assume he was referring to countermeasures, I was not familiar with any prior to the test, I did not research any because I did not think I needed to since I have not issues with the poly in the past.  I was very anxious leading up to the test because CBP was really my “plan C.”  It is not an ideal position for me, but I did not pass the FBI’s PT test and have to wait at least a year to retake it, and I passed up the hiring process for my local police department since I was going through the FBI’s process.  I’m not sure if I should even retake the FBI PT test and continue with that process since it will also include a polygraph.  I’m looking into going back to school since my criminology B.A. is worthless if I can’t pass polygraphs.   

Is there anything I can do about this?

Of course no one except your doctor has any right to dig into seriously personal issues like being the victim of sexual assault, being disowned by your parents, missing out on having children, and so forth. The examiner asked those questions solely to establish his right to do so. The same thing goes for his forcing you to endure his lame war stories, using the most painful pressure cuff he could find, putting you in a stress position in the chair, and all the other dominant macho bullshit.

The idea is to drive you into a mental state where you understand that there no civilized limits on the examiner's behavior, but you nevertheless must gain his good opinion of you. When a polygraph examination pretest interview works as planned, you end up believing you must placate a madman. It sounds like your interviewer was successful.

The effect of this is that when he pretended to determine "that I had committed some sort of serious crime and was lying about it", you

dysFUNCTIONALvet wrote on May 21^st, 2016 at 8:07pm:

NEVER NEVER DO THIS DURING A POLY EXAM. This is one of the things that causes the traces to appear different from the rest of the chart during relevant questions. If I asked you the same question, say, over lunch, would you scrape your mind? Of course not; you'd tell me to bugger off. But you let Keith Kyle (If that is his name) occupy your head.

dysFUNCTIONALvet wrote on May 21^st, 2016 at 8:07pm:

It's too late for the test you just took, but if you need to take a poly exam in the future, you should study the subject thoroughly. Read The Lie Behind the Lie Detector https://antipolygraph.org/lie-behind-the-lie-detector.pdf and train yourself to ignore the attitude and desires of the examiner.

Remember: the polygraph machine does not know whether you are honest. The examiner does not know whether you are honest. The idiot hiring managers who are relying on the test do not know whether you are honest. Other agencies who may get hold of the test results do not know whether you are honest. There is only one person in the entire world who knows whether you are honest during a poly exam, and that is you. Never let anybody tell you different.

-Aunty.

Aunty Agony wrote on May 22^nd, 2016 at 8:22pm:

I know I shouldn't have said this, as Mr. Kyle is not present to defend himself, and in any case is not responsible for the name his parents gave him. But the poor man sounds so much like a villain from a DC comic book that I couldn't help myself.

I'm afraid his portrait only reinforces my impression. I can imagine being interrogated by him and sitting there thinking, "Things look scary at present but surely Batman will rescue me any minute now."

-Aunty.