Who's in Charge?

by Julian Aguilar
March 23, 2010


When high-ranking officials of the Obama administration travel to Mexico today to discuss that country's role in combating border violence, one key member of the team will be missing: the commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection division of the Homeland Security Department. That's because the appointment of the president's nominee to the position, Alan D. Bersin, remains hung up in the Finance Committee of the United States Senate, where it has languished since September.

Bersin is currently the Special Representative for Border Affairs (informally called the “border czarâ€