Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Releases 2009 Fiscal Year in Review

Particulars to the CBP 2009 Fiscal Year in Review especially pertinent to immigration are summarized.

Recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its fiscal year 2009 in review fact sheet touting agency accomplishments during the last fiscal year. In it, U.S. Customs and Border Protection made significant progress through targeted operations, increases in staffing and training, additional infrastructure and better technology to meet its border patrol mission, while facilitating legitimate travel and trade.

CBP personnel encountered more than 224,000 inadmissible aliens and apprehended more than 556,000 at and between air, sea, and land ports of entry. During the same time period, CBP ports of entry apprehended more than 9,500 people wanted for a variety of charges, to include serious crimes such as murder, rape, and child molestation.

The Office of Border Patrol met the goal of hiring 6,000 Border Patrol agents and employed more than 18,000 agents before the end of the 2008 calendar year. Military veterans accounted for 23 percent of newly hired agents.

CBP experienced growing diversity as nearly one in three employees currently working in the border security agency are Hispanic. As a result of targeted outreach to underrepresented groups and recruitment activities, the number of women in CBP’s workforce increased by nearly 1,200 employees during FY09. The Canine Program expanded the implementation of new canine initiatives.

Border Patrol agents improved border security, reducing the number of apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexican border by 23 percent in FY09. Border Patrol made significant progress with denying illegal entry to aliens from countries other than Mexico, and continued to inform would-be border crossers of the dangers of border crossing. Violence against Border Patrol agents decreased with a 2 percent decrease in assaults on agents compared with FY08. The highly successful Operation Streamline continued in the Del Rio, Yuma, Laredo, and the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol sectors resulting in an increase in criminal prosecutions and a reduction in apprehensions.

CBP officers at 327 ports of entry inspected 361.2 million travelers and more than 108.5 million cars, trucks, buses, trains, vessels, and aircraft.

CBP also launched a national television, print, and online advertising campaign to educate the public about new travel document requirements on June 1, 2009, under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

CBP also added 13 ports of entry to its Global Entry program which is a program designed to expedite screening and clearance of low risk, pre-approved U.S. citizen and green card holding travelers. 22000+ travelers now participate in the program.

Stewart Rabinowitz is President of Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C. Mr. Rabinowitz is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. To contact a Dallas immigration lawyer or Dallas immigration attorney visit Rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.

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