Carla L. Provost (born November 21, 1969) is a retired American government official who served as the Chief of the

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...

from August 2018 through January 2020. She was the first woman to serve as Chief of the Border Patrol, a career law enforcement position. Provost held numerous positions during her 25-year career in the Border Patrol, including serving as Deputy Chief beginning in October 2016, and Acting Chief from April 2017 until her promotion in August 2018.

Early life and education

Carla Provost was born in

Burlingame, Kansas Burlingame is a city in Osage County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 971. History Burlingame was originally established as Council City and was an stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The Council City po ...

. Her father, Max, worked for the

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

, which became the

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...

. Her mother, Faye, was a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

for a law firm before passing away from

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

.Chief Carla L. Provost Profile
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. August 9, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2019 Provost graduated from

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in sociology and criminal justice; and obtained a

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in national resource strategy from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

at the

National Defense University The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...

Career

Provost was formerly a police officer in

Riley County, Kansas Riley County (standard abbreviation: RL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,959. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan. Riley County is home to two of Kansas's largest employer ...

. Provost joined the Border Patrol in 1995, when the 5,000 member force was 5% female. After starting in

Douglas, Arizona Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining. The population was 16,531 in ...

, she served in a number of senior positions in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

, and

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. In January 2013, she was given control of operations for the Border Patrol's El Centro Sector. In September 2015, she was tasked with investigating allegations of wrongdoing and rooting out corruption, becoming Deputy Assistant Commissioner of

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...

's Office of Professional Responsibility. On October 26, 2016, Provost was selected as the Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol. In April 2017, Provost began serving as Acting Chief after

Ronald Vitiello Ronald Donato Vitiello (born July 30, 1963) is an American government official and former U.S. Border patrol agent who served as deputy director and acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from June 30, 2018 to April 12, 2 ...

was named Acting Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Provost was officially promoted to the position of Chief in August 2018, a move widely supported by the Border Patrol workforce. In July 2019, an investigation was launched into "disturbing social media activity hosted on a private

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

group that may include a number of

CBP CBP may refer to: Business parks * Cebu Business Park, a central business district in Cebu City, Philippines * Changi Business Park, an eco-friendly industrial park in Singapore * Chiswick Business Park, a business park in Gunnersbury, West London ...

employees". Provost said that the "posts are completely inappropriate" and vowed to hold the employees responsible accountable. It was later revealed that Provost herself was once a member of the group, having posted in it in November 2018. In a July 2019 congressional hearing, Provost testified that she was "an infrequent user of Facebook" and first learned of the offensive posts in reporting by

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

. Upon hearing of the postings, she provided CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility with full access to her Facebook account for investigation. Provost retired from federal service in January 2020 after 25 years as a Border Patrol agent. She then served as the director of the Pecos Children's Center, a privately-run emergency shelter in West Texas for migrant children, from March to May 2021. She is currently a contractor for San Antonio-based nonprofit Endeavors.Aura Bogado.
Migrant Children Died on Border Patrol Chief’s Watch. Then She Ran an Emergency Shelter Under Biden.
''Reveal'', June 2, 2022.

Personal life

Provost has one child, a daughter.

References

External links

Border Patrol profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Provost, Carla Living people People from Burlingame, Kansas Kansas State University alumni National Defense University alumni Trump administration personnel United States Border Patrol agents 1969 births