On March 1, the border inspection functions of the U.S. Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, along with the U.S. Border Patrol, were transferred to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Part of the Border and Transportation Security Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security, this new agency, CBP, unifies for the first time all of the federal agencies responsible for border enforcement, protection, and inspection at and between the over 300 ports of entry into the United States.

The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection brings together about 35,000 federal employees, including 17,000 inspectors and canine enforcement officers from the APHIS - Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program, INS inspection services, and the Customs Service, and 10,000 Border Patrol Agents. It is headed by Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, who reports to the Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security, Asa Hutchinson.

It is the goal of CBP to provide the American public with greater security and to facilitate the flow of legitimate people and goods across the United States border. As its primary mission, CBP will focus on preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the country.

DHS Announces Border Security Reorganization

As September 11th demonstrated, protecting the U.S. border - whether by air, land or sea - has taken on a level of urgency and importance like never before. Border security is no longer just an immigration issue, or just a customs issue. Border security must be a unified and coordinated strategy to thwart terrorism and enforce the laws of the United States .

In a policy speech delivered in Miami , Ridge outlined the Department’s re-organization plan.

As Hutchinson - who heads the new Directorate of Border and Transportation Security (BTS) - put together working groups representing each of the agencies that became part of the BTS team, it became clear that the success of the BTS mission would depend upon better coordination of the various agencies responsible for protecting the borders.

Previously, border inspections and security were performed by agencies from three different Departments - the Department of Justice, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Agriculture. The men and women of these various agencies carry out their responsibilities diligently, but they operated under a fragmented system. For example, both INS and the Customs Service conducted criminal investigations. The result was that, too frequently, investigators from both services were pursuing similar cases, or even the exact same ones.

DHS proposed creating two new agencies that would better coordinate and focus the nation’s border security mission:

•Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP): The border protection and inspection functions of INS, Customs and APHIS brings together employees who will focus exclusively on securing borders and facilitating the movement of legitimate trade and travelers.

•Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE): The investigative and enforcement duties of Customs, INS and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) brings together employees that will focus exclusively on the criminal investigations and enforcement of the nation’s immigration and customs laws throughout the United States, including locating and removing aliens who are in the United States illegally.

These two new agencies will build upon the rich traditions of the INS, Customs, APHIS and the FPS - but now they will no longer have overlapping missions. Instead, each will have a single, clear mission: one dedicated to securing borders, the other to investigating criminal violations of our immigration and customs laws.

Although the agencies joined DHS in March, it will take months to fully integrate the agencies.

While visiting several hundred future Department of Homeland Security employees in Miami , Secretary Ridge highlighted the Department’s strategic goals for building a nation where Americans are protected from the evil of terrorism. These include:

•Integrating departmental functions.

•Bolstering support for state and local emergency preparedness.

•Streamlining and strengthening information sharing.

•Establishing and nurturing private sector partnerships.

•Improving and protecting immigration practices.

Bureau of Customs and Border Protection

This new bureau brings together approximately 30,000 employees including 17,000 inspectors in the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program, INS inspection services, Border Patrol and the Customs Service, including canine enforcement officers. It is headed by the Commissioner of Customs who reports to the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security.

The bureau will focus its operations on the movement of goods and people across our borders. Over the next several months, the bureau will work with employees and other stakeholders to ensure that the goal of consistent inspection procedures and greatly improved communication and information sharing create the highest levels of service and accountability. 

Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

This bureau brings together the enforcement and investigation arms of the Customs Service, the investigative and enforcement functions of Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Federal Protective Services. The reorganization involves approximately 14,000 employees, including 5,500 criminal investigators, 4,000 employees for immigration and deportation services and 1,500 Federal Protective Service personnel that will focus on the mission of enforcing the full range of immigration and customs laws within the interior of the United States in addition to protecting specified federal buildings. The air and marine enforcement functions of the Customs Service will also be a part of this bureau.

By unifying the previously fragmented investigation functions, the new bureau will enhance information sharing with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and develop stronger relationships with the U.S. Attorneys’ Office.

This bureau will be headed by an Assistant Secretary who will report directly to the Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security and will advise the Under Secretary on any policy or operation of the Bureau that may affect the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, a separate bureau that was created by the Homeland Security Act, will allow the Department to greatly improve the administration of benefits and immigration services for applicants by focusing exclusively on immigration and citizenship services.

The Transportation Security Administration will build on its success of hiring, training and deploying new professional federal screeners to our nation’s 429 commercial airports and continue to protect and secure the nation’s transportation systems. TSA will benefit from the reorganization by enhanced information sharing with the new BTS bureaus. 

Timing and Funding

This new structure was implemented March 1 when the agencies moved to the Department of Homeland Security.  However, full integration of the new agencies will be a collaborative effort undertaken over the next few months between employees, stakeholders, and the DHS senior leadership. 

Funding to effectively implement the reorganization plan as well as support the Department’s other key initiatives and missions will be included in the President’s FY 2004 budget request. 

Ridge also announced that the president is committed to funding Department of Homeland Security efforts at the appropriate levels.

Specifically the president will request $41.3 billion for homeland defense and security.  The Department of Homeland Security’s funding request of $36.2 billion represents a 64 percent increase in funding and resources from 2002.

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement brings together approximately 14,000 Federal employees who focus on the enforcement of immigration and customs laws within the United States, the protection of specified federal buildings, and air and marine enforcement. By unifying previously fragmented investigative functions, the Bureau will deliver effective and comprehensive enforcement. The Bureau is led by an Assistant Secretary who reports directly to the Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security. Michael Garcia, former Acting INS Commissioner, has been nominated by President Bush to fill this role.

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is comprised of the following primary program areas:

•Immigration Investigations – responsible for investigating violations of the criminal and administrative provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other related provisions of the United States Code.

•Customs Investigations – responsible for investigating a range of issues including terrorist financing, export enforcement, money laundering, smuggling, fraud – including Intellectual Property Rights violations, and cybercrimes.

•Customs Air and Marine Interdiction – responsible for protecting the Nation’s borders and the American people from the smuggling of narcotics, other contraband, and terrorist activity with an integrated and coordinated air and marine interdiction force.

•Immigration Intelligence – responsible for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence to immigration staff at all levels to aid in making day-to-day, mid-term, and long-term operational decisions; acquiring and allocating resources; and determining policy.

•Customs Intelligence – responsible for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of strategic and tactical intelligence data for use by the operational elements of customs enforcement.