Bersin Appointed CBP Commissioner
President Obama has appointed Alan Bersin Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Commissioner Bersin oversees the operations of CBP’s 57,000-employee work force and manages an operating budget of more than $11b. CBP’s mission is to protect the nation’s borders at and between the ports of entry from all threats while facilitating legitimate travel and trade. Commissioner Bersin is CBP’s third Commissioner following former Commissioner’s Robert C. Bonner and W. Ralph Basham. Former Commissioner Bonner was the first Commissioner at CBP’s inception March 1, 2003. CBP’s operational offices include the Office of Field Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Office of Air and Marine and the Office of International Trade.
DHS Launches US-VISIT Program
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched US-VISIT, a new program to enhance the nation's security while facilitating legitimate travel and trade through our borders. New entry procedures took effect Tuesday, January 6, 2004, for most foreign visitors with non-immigrant visas at 115 airports and cruise ship terminals at 14 seaports. The system utilizes biometrics, which are physical characteristics unique to each individual, to verify identity. Biometric technologies are the basis of an extensive array of highly secure identification and personal verification solutions. US-VISIT requires that most foreign visitors traveling to the U.S. on a visa have their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken to verify their identity at the port of entry.
Bonner to Head Delegation to OAS Conference on Terrorism
Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner will head the U.S. delegation to the Third Regular Session of the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), which will take place in El Salvador January 22-24, 2003. The conference agenda is designed to build on the momentum created by the adoption in June 2002 of the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism, the first international legal instrument against terrorism adopted since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The meeting will expand the cooperative counterterrorism efforts undertaken thus far in the hemisphere and result in formal recommendations on counterterrorism issues to the Special Conference on Hemispheric Security planned for May.
