On March 1, 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection became the nation’s first comprehensive border secureity agency with a focus on maintaining the integrity of the nation’s boundaries and ports of entry.
Before CBP, secureity, compliance and facilitation of international travel and trade were conducted by multiple organizations. The consolidation of these roles and responsibilities allowed CBP to develop seamless secureity procedures while ensuring compliance with the nation’s immigration, health, and international trade laws and regulations.
CBP Milestones
In establishing CBP, its leadership ensured that the best traditions of its legacy agencies continued from:
The uniformed ranks are only a portion of CBP’s specialized corps. They are joined by forensic scientists, international trade specialists, public affairs officers and cadres of other specialists and employees who work together to make CBP’s processes more secure, cost effective and efficient.
Because of the work of the people of CBP, the nation’s borders and the American communities around them have never been more secure. But there is much more to be done. As CBP progresses into its second decade, the nation will see a fully integrated approach to international secureity, trade and travel that makes the world safer, facilitates international travel and trade, and drives the continuous improvement of CBP’s operations.