Every day, every minute CBP serves
telecommunications system also falls to this agency.
On the flip side of that coin, the agency performs search and recovery operations to save the lives of those migrants lost and potentially overheating in the desert, freezing in the mountains, drowning in canals or waterways, or otherwise trapped by the hazards along our borders.
There is also the possibility that terrorists and extremists would try to establish operations in Mexico and/or infiltrate the United States from the south. Canada’s refugee policy makes it home to thousands of residents from nations of interest. Only as recently as 2009 was the credibility of the terrorist-cartel connection more firmly established, making relatively low-risk smugglers and traffickers potential terrorists. So regardless of the probability of a terrorist attack, the implications and consequences could be so grave that constant vigilance to that threat remains in the minds of all CBP officers.
Port Operations
Port operations include surveillance and interdiction at airports, marine and freshwater ports, rail ports, and of course land ports including truck, personally owned vehicles, buses, pedestrians, and even bike riders.
The overwhelming majority of what crosses at ports (the proverbial 99 and .44 percent of the flow) is regular migration and legitimate flows of tourists, trade, and other transportation movements. In other words, most of the billion dollars that crosses the northern and southern border every day occurs at land ports of entry.
Of course, within that flow are illicit materials that must be detected and interdicted. Some of this occurs at ports of entry but a majority of the success at detecting and interdicting actually occurs at checkpoints inland from the border and much by highly trained and strategically positioned dogs.
For imported amounts brought both by traders as well as tourists that exceed the daily limits, CBP must determine and process customs dues. This mission is largely forgotten by the broader public among everything else that CBP now does.
Of continued but emerging interest is CBP’s ability to detect, identify, and interdict chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) weapons and weapon building blocks.
One of the jobs CBP accepted during the reorganization after 9/11 was agricultural inspections that were previously accomplished by the Department of Agriculture. This includes inspections of cattle and other animals but also interdicting agricultural pests and invasive species in produce or other shipments. CBP is our first line of defense against “first in nation” exotic species that can cost American productivity billions of dollars annually.
During times of pandemic emergencies, CBP is also responsible for screening visitors to ensure certain infectious diseases do not enter the country. This can include old diseases like tuberculosis but new diseases like avian influenza.
Much of the screening at ports of entry is done with non-intrusive technology, both for vehicles and for packages carried by pedestrians.
Other technology is used to provide reconnaissance and communicate with local law enforcement and across the borders with collaborators in Mexico and Canada.
At both ports of entry and between them along the border CBP is responsible for emergency response including contingency planning, risk prevention, and overall preparedness shows that it can react, respond, and recover from natural and human emergencies.
I have only briefly outlined CBP’s broad mandate and a few of the challenges that the agency faces, but you can quickly see the enormous logistical, political, and financial obstacle that the agency must overcome to successfully complete its mission. One can only imagine what challenges CBP will face in the coming years and what approaches and solutions they will apply for the security and safety of the nation.
Rick Van Schoik is the director of the North American Center for Transborder Studies at Arizona State University
