Inspectors from the Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and agents from the Border Patrol have worked aggressively to create U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, and their efforts have paid off in ways few of us could have predicted twelve months ago.

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

Border Patrol Agent Natalie Chamness from the Laredo, Tex., Sector and CBP Officer TedMax S. Rose from Dulles International Airport in Va., stand ready to safeguard our nation.

A new law enforcement culture is emerging as personnel from legacy agencies realize that a stronger, more focused enforcement agency is emerging from a consolidation of skills and experience. Instead of competition, in 2003, we've seen cooperation; instead of "turf" issues, we've seen teamwork. The result has been an historic achievement - the largest actual merger of people and functions within the federal government since the creation of the Department of Defense. Indeed, about one-fourth of all DHS personnel are housed within CBP, a reflection of the importance that border security plays in the war on terrorism.

First off the mark
Soon after the Department of Homeland Security stood up, CBP named a single port director for each of its more than 300 U.S. ports of entry and established a short, clear chain-of-command from the field to headquarters. That chain-of-command didn't include separate channels to accommodate separate "flows" of information and policy directives to and from Customs, Agriculture, Immigration, or Border Patrol officials; on the contrary, it assumed an integrated flow of shared, integrated information.

In those first days, CBP also worked closely with union officials on the shape and scope of new training programs the agency would offer its coalescing workforce, and top officials from each of the legacy agencies quickly moved to consolidate its K-9 units and kennel facilities.

One Face at the Border
In 2003, CBP also launched an ambitious campaign to create "One Face at the Border," a fusion of human, physical and technological resources that not only streamlines the way CBP processes people and cargo, but also provides the visual symbols CBP is using to tell the world that the federal officers they encounter at America's borders all belong to the same team.

News spread quickly that every CBP inspector would wear the same uniform with a distinctive CBP patch. The only exception applied to Border Patrol agents, who continue to wear the distinctive green uniform that is so closely associated with their organization. Soon the focus on form became a focus on function, and CBP officers, as they are beginning to be referred to, began sharing responsibilities in primary and secondary inspections, both immigration and customs functions. In the past, inspectors who processed passengers had separate responsibilities from those who focused on cargo. Although Customs and Immigration inspectors had always been able to step in for one another when the situation demanded it, under the new system planned for this spring, the CBP officer, after training, would be ready at any moment to switch roles, moving easily from primary to secondary, and from passenger to cargo.

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

DHS Secretary Tom Ridge and Commissioner Robert C. Bonner announce the "One Face at the Border" initiative and the new unified CBP officer.

The first step towards a "unified primary inspection" began in 2003. More than 50 major airports began training former Customs inspectors on how to process U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents in primary. In addition, all inspectors received more anti-terrorism training to teach them how to ask better questions that would address the concerns of all three legacy agencies. By the end of 2004, the next major step towards creating a "fully unified primary" will be to provide training to all CBP officers that delivers an aggressive immigration curriculum on processing all visa categories.

The new officer reports to a new chain-of-command; gone are the separate reporting lines that had once belonged individually to Customs, Immigration, and APHIS. In their place is a new, integrated hierarchy of managers and supervisors for the different workforces now consolidated under CBP. The Border Patrol continues to report to its Chief, Gus De La Viña, who reports directly to the Commissioner of CBP.

New threats mandate new training
The creation of the new CBP officer position demands an array of new training curriculum and courses designed to introduce inspectors with specialized skills to interchangeable roles. CBP's Office of Training and Development rose to the challenge, designing and implementing a new training curriculum in record time. It included a 50 percent increase in anti-terrorism training courses, and delivered more than 50 new courses to meet the needs of incumbent personnel. By December 2003, the first CBP officer class was only one month from graduation, and inspectors from INS and Customs were also engaged in cross-training programs designed to leverage existing skills.

The Office of Field Operations also focused on the canine training program, a critical enhancement in an environment focused on anti-terrorism strategies. In 2003, OFO developed an explosives training course for canine officers and first-line supervisors; all in all, the number of canine officers CBP trained more than doubled.

Finally, 2003 marked the year CBP broke ground on a new, advanced firearms training facility in Harper's Ferry, W.Va. The facility is larger and more sophisticated than anything previously maintained by Customs or another legacy agency; in addition to offering personnel the opportunity to maintain a high level of marksmanship, the facility also plans to familiarize its users with the what, how and why of explosive devices and the dangers inherent in their use by terrorist groups. Like so many post 9/11 programs and initiatives, the firing range has now become a training ground for preventing terrorist attacks.

A layered defense drives enforcement
The first days and weeks at CBP were marked by a rush to build a first, critical perimeter against terrorist attacks. As employees from legacy agencies hurried to meet new responsibilities without interruption to ongoing operations, CBP officers succeeded in entering 1,300 new lookouts into the Treasury Enforcement Communication System (TECS). Anti-terrorism response teams went into action at ports of entry. A sophisticated Automated Targeting System (ATS) and the expanded use of the National Targeting Center refined and increased CBP's targeting capabilities.

Securing the global supply chain

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

A Border Patrol agent repels down a ravine during a training exercise.

Anti-terrorism initiatives aimed at protecting the global supply chain engaged CBP and the trade in a rapid offensive to keep legitimate cargo moving across the borders: FAST (Free and Secure Trade), the Container Security Initiative (CSI), the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), NEXUS and NEXUS Air, and Integrated Border Enforcement Teams became trade-friendly components in CBP's layered defense against possible terrorist attempts to compromise container security or to smuggle terrorist weapons into the United States.

Container Security Initiative (CSI)
Because of the sheer volume of sea container traffic, and the opportunities it presents for terrorists, containerized shipping is uniquely vulnerable to terrorist attack. Given this vulnerable system, immediately after 9/11, CBP understood the need to develop and implement a program that would enable us to better secure containerized shipping - the most important means of global commerce - against the terrorist threat.

Photo Credit: James Tourtellotte

A container cargo ship at the Miami port of entry.

That program, which Customs proposed in January 2002, is the Container Security Initiative. CSI protects the world's trading system as well as our own national security by placing CBP officers at ports overseas, where they work side-by-side with their foreign counterparts to target high-risk shipments bound for the United States.

C-TPAT
The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism was created in November 2001, and in 2003, continued to gain momentum in the private sector. C-TPAT is a partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the trade community to implement security standards and best practices that better protect the entire supply chain against exploitation by terrorists - from foreign loading docks to our ports of entry. In 2003, support from the private sector continued to be essential to supply chain security. A comprehensive border security strategy for our nation and for global trade must include the private sector, because they are the ones who own the supply chain. CBP offers something to the private sector in return for increased security: expedited processing at the borders - air, land, and sea.

The Trade Act of 2002 added additional fuel to CBP's anti-terrorism efforts. The Act required commercial carriers and transporters of every kind - sea vessels, air carriers, rail and trucks - to provide CBP with advance, electronic information about inbound and outbound shipments. Enforcement of the existing 24-hour vessel cargo declaration rules were also expanded. Timeliness of submissions was stringently enforced and more detailed manifest data was required - general language like "Freight-All-Kind" was no longer sufficient to describe a shipment. Following this lead Canada and Mexico have both adopted their own 24-hour provisions and are working cooperatively with CBP to harmonize the data and timeframes.

Oceangoing sea containers represent the most important artery of global commerce - some 48 million sea cargo containers move between the world's major seaports each year, and nearly 50 percent of all U.S. imports (by value) arrive via sea containers. Approximately 7 million cargo containers arrive at U.S. seaports annually.

NEXUS
Under NEXUS, frequent travelers across the U.S.- Canada border whose background information has been prescreened for criminal or terrorist links are issued a proximity card, or SMART card. This SMART card allows them to be waived expeditiously through the port of entry. The NEXUS program CBP implemented on the northern border attracted thousands of new participants in 2003.

FAST
The Free and Secure Trade program, or FAST, was originally developed along our northern border with Canada. In 2003, like C-TPAT, the number of companies seeking to participate in FAST grew rapidly. Under the FAST program, importers, commercial carriers (i.e., trucking companies), and truck drivers enroll in the program and, if they meet our stringent mutually agreed to security criteria, they are entitled to expedited clearance at the border. Both the importer and the trucking company seeking to bring goods from Canada into the U.S. through the FAST lane must be C-TPAT participants.

Close relationship with Canada
CBP had been working closely with its Canadian counterparts to address the issue of cargo traveling by rail for some time. In the spring of 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) signed an agreement with the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA), the Canadian National Railway (CN), and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to implement a process for targeting, screening, and examining rail shipments transported into the United States from Canada by CN and CP, by far the two major cross-border rail carriers.

Photo Credit: Gerald L. Nino

A CBP officer requests manifest information from a truck driver at the northern border.

The agreement enables CBP to receive advance manifest data on rail shipments coming from Canada into the United States. It also provides for security screenings using Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technology and radiation detection equipment, at designated locations near the border, as well as for examinations at specified locations, when such examinations are warranted. This agreement is a major step forward in addressing the potential terrorist threat for rail shipments coming into the United States from Canada.

Agriculture and air travel receive special attention
CBP also prepared for possible bioterrorism attacks, coordinating with the Food and Drug Administration and other executive agencies to get the Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002 off the drawing board and into the field as a piece of working, effective legislation. This Act did for the food supply what the Trade Act of 2002 had done for commercial cargo - ensured a steady stream of advance electronic information from agricultural shippers.

CBP also turned its attention to air travel programs it knew were vulnerable to terrorist activity. Credible intelligence convinced DHS officials that terrorists were actively trying to exploit weaknesses within specific air travel programs. The standard practice that allowed foreign travelers to transit through U.S. airports on the way to a final destination outside the country was of special concern, and the Transit Without Visa Program was suspended.

Enforcement successes increase across the board
The collection of more and better intelligence was another priority in 2003: CBP created its own Office of Intelligence and, equally important, expanded intelligence-sharing with its foreign counterparts and other federal agencies - CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security's Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate, the new Terrorist Screening Center, and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center. CBP also reached across the northern border, to Canada's Customs and Revenue Agency; together the organizations began developing joint training in anti-terrorism strategies and methods.

The progress CBP enjoyed in 2003 was overwhelming, and the success of the agency's efforts can be credited to its employees. The CBP officers and agents in the field deserve our full measure of respect and appreciation - without their commitment and dedication, none of the progress we've made would have been possible. ---CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner

Securing the borders
By 2003, the effort to harden U.S. borders was at full throttle. On 9/11 only a handful of inspectors carried portable radiation devices - by 2003, every inspector at every port had a Personal Radiation Detection device. Portal detection systems and isotope identifiers were fast becoming standard issue in the field, while non-intrusive technologies, such as gamma ray and x-ray systems, allowed more intensive inspections for radioactive materials. CBP also installed radiation detection equipment at all international mail facilities and, for the first time, initiated outbound mail inspections on a large scale.

But technology alone, even when it's in great supply, doesn't guarantee border security - people do. By the end of 2003, the number of Border Patrol agents assigned to the U.S. Canada border, had risen from 375 to more than 1000 - dramatic change for the demarcating line that before 9/11, had been known as the "longest unguarded border in the world." By 2003, it had become a very different and dangerous strip of land, peppered with surveillance devices and new border stations that CBP officers man 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

CBP is using Remote Video Surveillance (RVS) systems on both the northern and southern borders. These RVS systems are real-time remotely controlled force enhancement camera systems, that also provide coverage along the northern and southern land borders of the United States, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The RVS system significantly enhances the Border Patrol's ability to detect, identify, and respond to border intrusions, and it has a deterrent value as well. In 2003, there were 238 completed RVS sites in operation; 170 along the southwest border and 68 along the northern border. Another 224 installations are in progress.

Enhancements on the northern border
CBP also established the first Border Patrol foreign post in Canada in 2003 and initiated a series of border discussions and negotiations with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada's Customs and Revenue.

On the southwest border, the U.S. Border Patrol also focused on a Geographic Information System (GIS) to track illegal migration patterns, and to anticipate likely patterns of illegal activity at the border. This is an important step, because it represents the agency's evolving use of intelligence and technology; instead of merely collecting information as a base for the identification of criminals, that data is now being mined for patterns that allow CBP analysts to predict criminal trends, habits and opportunities for attack.

US-VISIT: an idea is born
CBP's newest border security tool is the recently launched United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology, or US-VISIT program. US-VISIT enhances our nation's security while facilitating legitimate travelers coming into the United States. As of January 5, 2004, all foreign visitors to the U.S. who are required to have visas will have their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken at the port of entry to verify their identity. The US-VISIT program enhances security by providing more complete data about the travelers while facilitating legitimate travel through the evolving use of biometrics to expedite processing at our borders.

Continuing cooperation with Mexico
During 2003, CBP continued important bilateral discussions with Mexico to implement initiatives that will protect our southern border against the terrorist threat, while also saving lives and improving the flow of legitimate trade and travel. One of the initiatives led by the former INS is called SENTRI. Like NEXUS on the northern border, SENTRI allows pre-screened, low-risk travelers to be processed in an expedited manner through dedicated lanes at our land border, with minimal or no delay. CBP personnel are able to focus their attention on travelers about whom little is known, people who might pose a potential threat.

In 2003, we also continued to implement our agreement with Mexico to share advance passenger information. This reciprocal exchange of data with Mexico will have the same benefit that our data exchange with Canada has: allowing law enforcement officials in both countries to track the movement of individuals with known or suspected ties to terrorist groups or other criminal organizations. In October 2003, we launched a pilot FAST program in El Paso to support low-risk shippers moving legitimate cargo. This pilot operates much like it does on the Northern Border, however because of the narcotics threat, CBP instituted additional security measures, including tamper resistant and tamper evident containers. CBP also requires that the Mexican manufacturer be a C-TPAT member as well.

CBP's goal in 2003 was to continue building a comprehensive and effective border and container security strategy, and as the evidence clearly demonstrates, the more than 42,000 men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection succeeded in delivering a safer America to all of us.