One of the great privileges associated with being the Commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection is the opportunity to participate in historic occasions like today’s Change of Command Ceremony for the San Diego Sector of the Border Patrol. This is a ceremony that symbolizes continuity of leadership and dedication to duty, to mission, and to country.

Looking out at this audience, I see some familiar faces. I’m delighted to see so many of our partners from federal, state, and local law enforcement—and so many elected officials and their representatives. Thank you for joining us today.

Passing the Torch
Chief Griffen, this is a special day for you and your family—and I congratulate you on your appointment to be the Chief Patrol Agent of the San Diego Sector of the Border Patrol, and on your selection to Senior Executive Service of Customs and Border Protection. This is a double-double. The fact that the Chief Patrol Agent for the San Diego Sector is an SES-level position is testament to the size (number of personnel) and importance of this Sector.

You are here, because you have proven your leadership abilities throughout your 23-year career with the Border Patrol, and because I believe you possess the right qualities to lead this very important Border Patrol Sector—and the Agents assigned to this Sector—with the integrity, dedication and vision you have demonstrated throughout your career. I might add that the Chief of the Border Patrol—Chief Aguilar—agrees.

This is a Sector you know well. It’s where you began your career (in 1981), and this is where you rose through the ranks.

It is, as I noted, one of the largest and most effective of all of the CBP Border Patrol Sectors. Controlling this Sector is a key to overall control of our border with Mexico. And controlling the borders of our nation has always been an important objective, but in the post 9/11 era, it is essential.

Chief Griffen, as you begin your new assignment, you have my total trust and confidence. I know you will do an outstanding job.

Freedom’s Frontline
But you know—and I know—that you undertake this job during a difficult time in our nation’s history. A time when our nation is threatened by outside forces—by the forces of global terrorism—by international terrorists intent on killing innocent Americans, damaging our economy, and destroying our way of life.

Al Qaeda has vowed to attack us again—here in our homeland—and they’ve vowed to attack us even harder than 9/11. They will stop at nothing in their efforts to get their operatives into our country.

But that’s where U.S. Customs and Border Protection—“CBP”—comes in. They have to get past us. And, we are doing—and will continue to do—everything within our power to prevent that from happening.

In his inaugural address last month, President Bush talked about his vision of defending freedom and spreading democracy around the world. He spoke of the deep yearning of all human beings to live free. Americans are blessed to live in this great and free nation. But we must never take those freedoms for granted. We must never forget that freedom is not free. Freedom has a price—and that price is eternal vigilance and sacrifice and courage to protect and defend our country and our freedoms against all enemies.

And that is what Border Patrol Agents do each and every day—day and night—and that is what you do each and every day.

You are Freedom’s Frontline. You protect our borders, and you are America’s Frontline.

And, in today’s ceremony, as we celebrate this day and this event, I ask that we remember, too, those who are fighting in distant lands—in Iraq and Afghanistan—and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom—here and abroad—and that most assuredly includes the Border Patrol Agents who have lost their lives in the line of duty and in defense of our country.

CBP: America’s Single Border Agency
We are only days away from an important date for all of us in Customs and Border Protection—on March 1, CBP celebrates its 2nd birthday, although the agencies that came together to form CBP, go back much further in our nation’s history.

On March 1, 2003, nearly two years ago, all border agencies of the United States Government were unified into one agency—United States Customs and Border Protection, one of the principal operational agencies of the Department of Homeland Security.

For the first time in our nation’s history, a single agency of our government—CBP—has responsibility for managing, securing and controlling our borders, for enforcing all laws of the United States at the official ports of entry—and in the vast areas between the ports of entry—where the Border Patrol does its outstanding work.

Before 9/11, protecting our borders was not viewed as a national security issue. It is now! And CBP, with its 30,000 uniformed law enforcement officers and agents, plays the central role in securing our borders and protecting our nation against the threat of international terrorism. So do our many support personnel.

CBP Officers stationed at the ports of entry, like San Ysidro and Otay Mesa —and CBP’s Border Patrol Agents stationed between the ports of entry—are our last—and often our first—line of defense against international terrorism.

And there can be no weak links when it comes to border security.

The organizations that became a part of CBP two years ago brought with them a proud and rich history of tradition and excellence. And, now we are building a new, single border agency to protect and secure our borders but an agency built upon those traditions.

The proud legacy of Border Patrol reaches back nearly 100 years—to its unofficial beginnings in the early 1900s—when a group of about 75 mounted guards patrolled our southern border. And, it was 81 years ago, in 1924, when Congress officially created the Border Patrol.

From those early beginnings, the Border Patrol has become the best-trained, best-equipped border law enforcement organization anywhere in the world.

CBP’s priority mission—preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from getting into the United States—unites all of CBP.

In addition to our priority anti-terrorism mission, we perform important traditional missions, and for the Border Patrol side of CBP, that means apprehending those who try to illegally enter our country—and those who attempt to smuggle illegal aliens or illegal drugs across our borders.
The mission of the U.S. Border Patrol has always been important—and difficult. Safeguarding the over 6,000 miles of border we share with Mexico and Canada is an enormous task, to be sure. But protecting America’s borders in an age of global terrorism makes our mission more important than ever.

The Border Patrol does an outstanding job here—and at all segments of our border. The statistics give some idea of the magnitude of the task: Last year, alone, Border Patrol agents arrested 1.1 million illegal aliens trying to cross our borders, and seized more than 1.4 million pounds of illegal drugs.

I am proud of the your service and grateful for the sacrifices you make—day and night—24-7—to protect our nation.

Upcoming Launch: Border Patrol Strategy
As a single, unified border agency, we are able to do something that was virtually impossible before March 2003, when border responsibilities were fragmented between four different agencies within three different departments of government.

We have been able to develop a truly comprehensive national strategy for securing our borders—at and between the ports of entry. This was not possible before March 2003, before there was a Department of Homeland Security. And part of that overall strategy is a new Border Patrol Enforcement Strategy that we will roll out and discuss at CBP Headquarters soon.

Border Patrol’s strategic goal is clear: to establish operational control of the borders of our country. All our efforts are squarely focused on that goal. And controlling our borders between the ports of entry is a key component to CBP’s overall strategic plan.

The important work that Border Patrol does between the ports of entry goes hand-in-hand with the work CBP Officers do at the ports of entries.

The Border Patrol National Strategy builds upon previous Border Patrol strategies, such as Operations Gate Keeper and Hold-the-Line, but it goes beyond them. The new strategy recognizes that to be even more effective, the Border Patrol needed to have a centralized command and control structure over all 20 sectors.

The Border Patrol lacked this centralized command structure when it was aligned with the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service).

It has that command structure now under the Chief of the Border Patrol, David Aguilar, who is providing outstanding leadership as Chief of the entire Border Patrol, and is a senior leader of CBP.

The new Border Patrol strategy recognizes the importance of improved technology to gain control of our borders, including increased electronic monitoring and sensoring devices; use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); and other aerial surveillance of our borders to detect intrusions.

But as important as it is, technology alone will never achieve our goal.

Operational control of our border—and we can settle for nothing less in this era of international terrorism—requires well-trained and dedicated Border Patrol Agents.

Part of the strategy recognizes that technology, whenever possible, should replace static deployment. And that, to increase our effectiveness, we must be capable of more rapidly deploying and responding to weak spots at our borders, both within and between sectors.

The strategy recognizes that the Border Patrol’s primary mission is to control and secure our nation’s borders. Nothing less. That means the efforts of the Border Patrol must be clearly focused on that mission.

But, control of the border is more than enforcement just at the “line.” It requires defense in-depth, to increase the apprehension rate in order to gain control. And that means a strategy of apprehending those who illegally enter the U.S., not just at the border line, but interior of the borders, at—and lateral to—interior checkpoints and at all areas of transit to ultimate destinations.

And although Sector Chiefs are responsible and will be held accountable for controlling their Sectors, much like NYPD Precinct Commanders in New York are accountable for controlling crime in their precincts, resources will be far more rapidly deployed nationally between Sectors to shore up weak spots on our border.

Those in law enforcement know that certainty of apprehension is the greatest deterrent. And as we deter, we will begin to bring our border under greater control.

Thanks to the Border Patrol, control of our border has markedly improved. Nowhere is that more apparent than here in San Diego. And we will increase the rate of apprehensions across the entire border, just as we have done here in the San Diego Sector.

The Border Patrol National Strategy will expand that greater control to all sectors of our border. It won’t happen over night. But it will happen.

Conclusion
These are exciting times for the Border Patrol—and for CBP. They are full of great challenges.

Just as the Greatest Generation of the last century changed the course of history, I believe those of us who protect our nation are called to new responsibilities in this new century. And nothing can be more important than securing and protecting America, our homeland, and the American people. And that’s what the Border Patrol, as part of CBP, does every day—a job that is extraordinarily important to the national security of our country.

I appreciate your service. I’m awed by your sacrifice. And, I am privileged—and proud—to be your Commissioner.

Again, congratulations to you, Chief Griffen. And a special thanks to Georgina and Chief Griffen’s family who have stood beside him throughout his career. And my thanks to all who have joined us for this Change of Command Ceremony.

May God bless you all—and God bless this great country we are so privileged to serve and protect.

Commissioner Bonner reserves the right to edit his written remarks during his oral presentation and to speak extemporaneously. His actual remarks, as given, therefore, may vary slightly from the written text.