We are united by our priority homeland security mission: preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from getting into the United States. No agency of our government has a more important mission.

One of the most important aspects of the DHS reorganization was the establishment of a single border agency of our government to manage, control and secure our Nation’s borders, all its entry points and between, for all purposes – customs, trade, immigration, agriculture protection and terrorism prevention. That agency – our agency – is U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). With more than 41,000 employees, CBP represents nearly one fourth of all employees of the Department of Homeland Security, a reflection of how important the security of our borders is to the security of our homeland.

Over the past two years, we have, collectively, made great progress in achieving our goal of one unified border agency for the United States. Thanks in large measure to your vigilance, skills, and dedication, we have worked successfully through three separate heightened alert levels, including last year’s threat of pre-election terrorist attacks in the United States. No domestic agency of government is more responsible for preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks on our Nation than the men and women of CBP.

Going forward, we will expand our efforts to protect our borders against terrorists and their weapons through the use of technology, advanced information, risk-management, and partnerships with the trade and foreign governments. We will continue to implement a multi-layered border security strategy and further extend our zone of security beyond our physical borders through bilateral partnership with other countries, as well as through private-sector partnerships. And, in all that we do, we will carry out our mission without shutting off the flow of legitimate trade and travel so important to our economy and to our free and open society.

As your Commissioner, I am proud to serve with you – the men and women of America’s frontline – and, with you, to have been part of the creation of CBP. As we enter our third year as the unified frontline border agency for our Nation, I ask that you take a moment to reflect back on our many collective achievements. Due in large measure to your dedication and vigilance, America is now safer and more secure. We have still more to do to fully achieve our homeland security mandate. I thank you for your continued commitment to carrying out the priority anti-terrorism and traditional missions of CBP.

Robert C. Bonner
Commissioner