“Year End Data released for 2010 Border Security operations”

CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2010 Year-End Data

(Wednesday, February 23, 2011)

contacts for this news release

CBP Announces Fiscal Year 2010 Year-End Data

Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection today released year-end data on its fiscal year 2010 operations – illustrating the agency’s success in securing the border and facilitating legitimate trade and travel through targeted operations, enhanced partnerships, and the unprecedented deployment of personnel, technology and infrastructure along America’s borders.

“We are committed to keeping our country and communities safe, and facilitating the lawful flow of goods and people that are vital to our nation’s economy,” said CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin. “CBP’s performance in fiscal year 2010 demonstrates that we continue to make great strides in securing our borders and protecting and fostering cross-border economic activity.”

In fiscal 2010, CBP seized more than 4.14 million pounds of narcotics and more than $147 million in currency. Border Patrol apprehensions—a key indicator of illegal immigration—were 463,000, down 36 percent over the past two years and less than one third of what they were at their peak.

CBP also processed nearly $2 trillion in trade – a 15.8 percent increase over FY 2009 – and more than 352 million travelers in fiscal year 2010, and continued to expand trusted traveler and shipper programs designed to expedite screening for low-risk travelers and trade through rigorous, recurrent background checks.

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 Border Patrol since 2004; quintupled the number of Border Liaison Officers working with their Mexican counterparts; doubled personnel assigned to Border Enforcement Security Task Forces; and begun screening southbound rail and vehicle traffic for the illegal weapons and cash that are helping fuel the cartel violence in Mexico.

CBP also has deployed thousands of technology assets – including mobile surveillance units, thermal imaging systems, and large-and small-scale non-intrusive inspection equipment – along the border. For the first time, DHS unmanned aerial capabilities now cover the Southwest border all the way from California to Texas – providing critical aerial surveillance assistance to personnel on the ground.

During fiscal 2010, CBP also increased its collaboration with federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners, including through its continued leadership of the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats—a collaborative enforcement effort that leverages the capabilities and resources of more than 60 federal, state, local and tribal agencies in Arizona and the Government of Mexico to combat individuals and criminal organizations that pose a threat to communities on both sides of the border.

Over the coming year, CBP will continue to deploy additional resources to the borders, including 1,000 new Border Patrol agents, 250 new CBP officers, and two additional CBP unmanned aircraft systems funded under the Southwest border security supplemental legislation passed by Congress.

A more comprehensive list of FY 2010 data can be found on the CBP website. ( Fact Sheet )

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.

Contacts For This News Release

CBP Public Affairs Phone: (202) 344-1780