Immigration and Border Security

8/02/2006

Senate Finance Committee

Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Baucus, distinguished members of the Committee; I would like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide this testimony. As President of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), I have the honor of leading a union that represents over 15,000 Customs and Border Protection Officers (CBPOs) and trade enforcement specialists who are stationed at 317 land, sea and air ports of entry (POEs) across the United States. CBPOs make up our nation’s first line of defense in the wars on terrorism and drugs.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry specialists, import specialist and trade compliance personnel enforce over 400 U.S. trade and tariff laws and regulations in order to ensure a fair and competitive trade environment pursuant to existing international agreements and treaties. They play a leading role in stemming the flow of illegal contraband such as child pornography, illegal arms, weapons of mass destruction and laundered money. Because CBP is also a revenue collection agency, its personnel contribute directly to the economic health of the country. In 2005 alone, CBP commercial operations personnel collected an estimated $31.4 billion in revenue on over 29 million trade entries.

When CBP was created, it was given a dual mission of not only safeguarding our nation’s borders and ports from terrorist attacks, but also one of regulating and facilitating international trade; collecting import duties; and enforcing U.S. trade laws.

Currently, there are thousands of different documents that a traveler can present to CBP officers when attempting to enter the United States, creating a tremendous potential for fraud. Each day CBPOs inspect more than 1.1 million passengers and pedestrians, including many who reside in border communities who cross frequently and contribute to the economic prosperity of our country and our neighbors. At the U.S. land borders, approximately two percent of travelers crossing the border are responsible for nearly 48 percent of all cross-border trips.

On an average day, CBP intercepts more than 200 fraudulent documents, arrests over sixty people at ports of entry, and refuses entry to hundreds of non-citizens, a few dozen of whom are criminal aliens that are attempting to enter the U.S. In FY 2005, over 84,000 individuals were apprehended at the ports of entry trying to cross the border with fraudulent claims of citizenship or documents.

To determine whether someone is a U.S. citizen, CBPOs may be presented with thousands of different birth certificates (state and country) and 50 distinct drivers licenses by travelers. And in spite of the large number of daily border crossings by U.S. citizens, it is NTEU’s understanding that CBPOs receive very little training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on identifying fraudulent U.S. proof of citizenship documents. What training exists focuses on passports and other international documents.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), requires that by January 1, 2008, the Secretary of Homeland Security consult with the Secretary of State and develop and implement a plan to require U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport or other approved documentation to enter or re-enter the United States (Sec. 7209). This documentation must confirm both identity and citizenship before entry or re-entry can occur. Implementation of this program would reduce the numbers of identification documents that CBP Officers are required to verify, but adequate training on identification of fraudulent documents is critical now. Moreover, adequate staffing of the ports of entry is also crucial for CBP officers to meet would their duo mission of facilitating travel and trade, while at the same time securing the ports of entry from illegal entry of people or goods.

One Face at the Border Initiative

On September 2, 2003, CBP announced the misguided One Face at the Border (OFAB) initiative. This initiative was designed to eliminate the pre-9/11 separation of immigration, customs, and agriculture functions at US land, sea and air ports of entry. In practice, however, the OFAB initiative has resulted in diluting customs, immigration and agriculture inspection specialization and the resulting quality of passenger and cargo inspections has declined. Under OFAB, former INS officers that are experts in identifying counterfeit foreign visas are now at seaports reviewing bills of lading from foreign container ships, while expert seaport Customs inspectors are now reviewing passports at airports. The processes, procedures and skills are very different at land, sea and air ports, as are the training and skill sets needed for passenger processing and cargo inspection.

It is apparent that CBP sees its One Face at the Border initiative as a means to “increase management flexibility” without increasing staffing levels. The Immigration and Border Security bill passed by the House last year, requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit a report to Congress “describing the tangible and quantifiable benefits of the One Face at the Border Initiative…outlining the steps taken by the Department to ensure that expertise is retained with respect to customs, immigration, and agriculture inspection functions…” (HR 4437, section 105) NTEU believes that an honest report will reveal the serious negative impact on national security of this misguided program. It is NTEU’s observation that without adequate training and preservation of inspection specialization skills, the OFAB initiative is destined to fail.

Staffing Shortages at the Ports of Entry

There exists a continuing shortage of staff at the 317 POEs. The President’s FY 2007 budget proposal requests approximately, $4.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bureau. This is a 12 percent increase in CBP’s budget, but the bulk of the new money is to fund the hiring of 1,500 Border Patrol agents. For salaries and expenses for Border Security, Inspection and Trade Facilitation at the 317 Ports of Entry (POEs), the budget calls for an increase of only $32 million, adding just 21 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs).

According to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “as of June 2003, CBP has not increased staffing levels [at the POEs]” and “CBP does not systematically assess the number of staff required to accomplish its mission at ports and airports nationwide or assure that officers are allocated to airports with the greatest needs…(see GAO-05-663 page 19) The GAO contends further that “CBP is developing a staffing model…however the new model…will not be used to assess optimal levels of staff to ensure security while facilitating travel at individual port and port facilities, including airports.” (ibid)

It is instructive here to note that the former U.S. Customs Service’s last internal review of staffing for Fiscal Years 2000-2002 dated February 25, 2000, known as the Resource Allocation Model or R.A.M., shows that the Customs Service needed over 14,776 new hires just to fulfill its basic mission--and that was before September 11. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security was created and the U.S. Customs Service was merged with the Immigration and Naturalization Service and parts of the Agriculture Plant Health Inspection Service. This became the Customs and Border Protection bureau and was given an expanded mission of providing not only the first line of defense against terrorism, but also the responsibility to make sure trade laws are enforced and trade revenue collected.

CONCLUSION

Each year, with trade and travel increasing at astounding rates, CBP personnel have been asked to do more work with fewer personnel and less, training and resources. The more than 15,000 CBP employees represented by the NTEU are capable and committed to the varied missions of DHS which range from border control to the facilitation of trade into and out of the United States. They are proud of their part in keeping our country free from terrorism, our neighborhoods safe from drugs and our economy safe from illegal trade. These men and women are deserving of more resources, training and technology to perform their jobs better and more efficiently.

The American public expects its borders and ports to be properly defended. Congress must show the public that it is serious about protecting the homeland at the 317 POEs. I urge each of you to visit the land, sea and air CBP ports of entry in your states. Talk to the CBPOs, canine officers, and trade entry and import specialists there to fully comprehend the jobs they do and what their work lives are like.

I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to submit this testimony.