see also: in October 2007 News Releases:   Cocaine Smuggler Tries To Trick El Paso CBP Officers by Hiding Drugs in Car Body   Border Patrol Agents in Texas Seize Marijuana Worth $1 Million Hidden Under Watermelons   Fingerprint Check Allows Border Patrol to Arrest Murder Suspect   Border Patrol Texas Task Force Seizes 500 Pounds of Marijuana   CBP Officers at Mail Facility Find Marijuana in Cement Statues, Opium   Tecate, Calif. Cargo Processing Port to Resume Operations Wednesday Morning   CBP at Newark Airport Discovers Man with Fraudulent Documents, False Claim to U.S. Citizenship ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Laredo, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Laredo Border Patrol Sector Chief Patrol Agent Carlos X. Carrillo presented two Laredo elementary schools with laptop computers during a ceremony held today.

Farias Elementary and McDonnell Elementary each received 14 laptop computers under a program that allows the U.S. Border Patrol to donate government-owned computers that are excess to the agency.

“Your job is to be good students. These computers are tools to help you do your job,” Carrillo told students gathered in the Farias Elementary School library for the ceremony.

Laredo Independent School District Superintendent of Schools Veronica F. Guerra praised the gift. “This donation opens the door of opportunity for our students. We want students to be computer savvy and these laptops will certainly help us reach that goal,” Guerra said.

Farias Elementary School Principal Samuel Sanchez echoed Guerra’s comments. “For many of our students, this school provides the only opportunity they have to use a computer. These laptops will allow more of our students the chance to learn valuable skills,” Sanchez said.

At Farias, the donated laptops will be used in the library as part of the school’s accelerated reading program. At McDonnell, they will be used for a program that allows students to take computers home, Sanchez said. More than 1,600 students will benefit from the donation, he added.

“Let the U.S. Border Patrol provide an example for others to emulate,” Guerra said, referring to her hope that other agencies and organizations will make similar computer donations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.