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Release Date: 02/01/03 00:00:00
As September 11th so tragically demonstrated, protecting our borders - whether by air, land or sea - has taken on a level of urgency and importance like never before. Border security is no longer just a immigration issue, or just a customs issue. Border security must be a unified and coordinated strategy to thwart terrorism and enforce the laws of the United States. Today, Secretary Ridge and Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson announced a plan to re-organize the nation's border security structure to meet these challenges.
In a policy speech delivered in Miami on January 30, Secretary Ridge outlined the Department's re-organization plan to merge the border investigative and enforcement functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), U.S. Customs Service (USCS), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
During the past months, Under Secretary Hutchinson - who will lead the new Directorate of Border and Transportation Security (BTS) - put together Working Groups representing each of the agencies that will become part of the BTS team on March 1st. It became clear that the success of the BTS mission would depend upon better coordination of the various agencies responsible for protecting our borders.
Currently, border inspections and security are performed by agencies from three different Departments - the Department of Justice, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Agriculture. The men and women of these various agencies carry out their responsibilities diligently, but they operate under a fragmented system. For example, both INS and the Customs Service conduct criminal investigations. The result is that, too frequently, investigators from both services are pursuing similar cases, or even the exact same ones.
DHS proposes creating two new agencies that will better coordinate and focus the nation's border security mission:
1. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP): The border protection and inspection functions of INS, Customs and APHIS will bring together employees that will focus exclusively on securing our borders and facilitating the movement of legitimate trade and travelers.
2. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE): The investigative and enforcement duties of Customs, INS and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) will bring together employees that will focus exclusively on the criminal investigations and enforcement of the nation's immigration and customs laws throughout the United States, including locating and removing aliens who are in the United States illegally.
These two new agencies will build upon the rich traditions of the INS, Customs, APHIS and the FPS - but now they will no longer have overlapping missions. Instead, each will have a single, clear mission: one dedicated to securing our borders, the other to investigating criminal violations of our immigration and customs laws.
The Department intends to implement this plan by March 1, when the agencies join DHS. However, it will take months to fully integrate the agencies. Moreover, the plan is still being developed, and it will take some time to finalize details. The day-to-day operations will not significantly change on March 1, and employee locations, supervisors, salaries and benefits will not change.
Secretary Ridge's speech on border security re-organization
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
This page was last reviewed/modified on 02/01/03 00:00:00.