Thread: CBP's 2012 Fiscal Year in Review

CBP's 2012 Fiscal Year in Review

(Friday, February 01, 2013)

Washington— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a summary today of fiscal year (FY) 2012 border enforcement efforts, which reflect the significant results of historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has dedicated to the Southwest border under this Administration. In FY 2012, CBP continued to respond to illegal cross-border traffic through targeted operations, enhanced partnerships and an effective deployment of personnel, technology and infrastructure along the border, while facilitating legitimate trade and travel.

“In 2012, the men and women of CBP played a leading role in making America more secure and more prosperous," said CBP Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar. “These numbers illustrate the investments made by CBP to improve border security, increase efficiencies, and facilitate the flow of legal travel and trade through our nation’s borders.”

Over the last four years, CBP has focused on reducing barriers for fast, efficient, and secure travel to and from the United States. In FY 2012, CBP officers inspected more than 350 million travelers. At air ports of entry alone, CBP officers processed more than 98 million international travelers, an increase of more than 4 percent from fiscal year 2011, and a 12 percent increase since fiscal year 2009.

This year, CBP also processed more than $2.3 trillion in trade— a 5 percent increase over FY 2011— while enforcing U.S. trade laws that protect the economy, health and safety of the American people. CBP processed nearly 25 million cargo containers through the nation's ports of entry, up about 4 percent from last year. In addition, CBP conducted nearly 23,000 seizures of goods that violate intellectual property rights, with a total retail value of $1.2 billion, representing a 14 percent increase in value over FY 2011.

In addition, CBP opened four new Centers for Excellence and Expertise in FY 2012. The industry-specific Centers serve as single points of processing for participating importers. They increase uniformity of practices across ports of entry, facilitate the timely resolution of trade compliance issues nationwide, and offer CBP important information on key industry practices to facilitate legitimate trade. The new Centers are based in Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, and Houston and support the Electronics; Pharmaceutical; Automotive and Aerospace; and Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Minerals industries, respectively.

Attempts to cross the border illegally, as measured by U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions, totaled nearly 365,000 nationwide in FY 2012, representing a nearly 50 percent decrease since FY 2008 and a 78 percent decrease from their peak in FY 2000.

CBP officers and agents seized more than 4.2 million pounds of narcotics across the country in FY 2012. In addition, the agency seized more than $100 million in unreported currency through targeted enforcement operations.

CBP enrolled more than 414,000 new travelers in the agency’s Trusted Traveler Programs ( Global Entry, SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST ) , with membership totaling over 1.5 million people by the end of the fiscal year. CBP’s Trusted Traveler Programs are designed to expedite screening for low-risk travelers through rigorous and recurrent background checks. In addition to providing benefits for members at ports of entry, members of CBP Trusted Traveler Programs are now eligible for the Transportation Security Administration's Pre-Check program for domestic travel at U.S. airports. ( Transportation Security Administration's Pre-Check )

CBP continued its risk-based, multi-layered approach to identifying and intercepting individuals who may pose a risk to the United States. At ports of entry in FY 2012, CBP officers arrested nearly 7,700 people wanted for serious crimes, including murder, rape, assault and robbery. Officers also stopped nearly 145,000 inadmissible aliens from entering the U.S. through ports of entry. Inadmissibility grounds included immigration violations, health, criminal, and national security related grounds. As a result of the efforts of the CBP National Targeting Center and Immigration Advisory Program, 4,199 high risk travelers, who would have been found inadmissible, were prevented from boarding flights destined for the U.S., an increase of 32 percent compared to FY 2011. Additionally, CBP agriculture specialists conducted more than 1.6 million interceptions of prohibited plant materials, meat, and animal byproducts at ports of entry while also stopping nearly 174,000 potentially dangerous pests.

A breakdown of CBP enforcement actions by state along the U.S. southwest border is below:

Enforcement Actions	Arizona	Texas	New Mexico	California
Apprehensions	124,631	172,335	5,661	54,246
Drug Seizures	1.1M pounds	1.7M pounds	43.4K pounds	285.6K pounds
Currency Seizures	$5.6M	$12.5M	$715K	$15.9M
Inadmissible	6,011	27,392	489	28,167

Under this administration, DHS has dedicated historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources to the Southwest border. CBP has more than doubled the size of the U.S. Border Patrol since 2004. In FY 2012, CBP employed over 21,300 Border Patrol agents, keeping staffing levels along the border at an all-time high.

In FY 2012, over $46 million in Operation Stonegarden funding was provided to states to enhance cooperation and coordination among local, tribal, territorial, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in a joint mission to secure the border. States receiving funding in FY 2012 include Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas on the southern border and Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington on the northern border and Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Puerto Rico on the coastal borders.

CBP continues to deploy proven, effective surveillance technology tailored to the operational requirements along the highest trafficked areas of the Southwest Border. CBP’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems flew more than 5,700 hours in FY 2012—a record number of hours for the program— contributing to the seizure of more than 66,000 pounds of narcotics and the apprehension of 143 individuals involved in illicit activities.

In addition, the P-3 program, operating out of bases in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Jacksonville, Fla., flew more than 5,500 hours. This resulted in the seizure or disruption of over 117,000 pounds of cocaine, worth $8.76 billion. The P-3 program contributed to the seizure or disruption of nearly $1.3 million worth of drugs for every flight hour in FY 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/02012013_3.xml

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