Final spending bill includes $104 million for 1,200 CBP Officers and 240 Agriculture Specialists
Texas Border Business
Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) secures additional personnel and technology to facilitate trade and improve security at the U.S.-Mexico border in the final spending bill for 2020. This bill includes $104 million for an increase of 1,200 Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers and 240 Agriculture Specialists, $13 million for Border Patrol Processing Coordinators, and $222 million for new border security and trade and travel technology.
“Customs and Border Protection serves a vital role in the security and prosperity of our nation. Every day, CBP processes over a million travelers, more than 80,000 trucks, rail, and sea containers, and over $7.7 billion worth of imported products. CBP also screens for potential threats and determines eligibility to enter at our ports of entry,” said Congressman Cuellar.
“For these reasons, I worked hard to secure funding for more personnel and advanced technology so we can streamline trade at our ports as well as improve security along the border. As the Vice-Chair of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, I will continue to support CBP and provide them with the necessary resources to ensure our country’s national security and economic prosperity.”
“I would like to thank Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey and Ranking Member Kay Granger, as well as Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairwoman Lucille Roybal-Allard and Ranking Member Chuck Fleischmann for helping me include this language.”
Additional Customs and Border Protection Officers
To address staffing shortages at our ports of entries, the Congressman secured funding for 1,200 additional Customs and Border Protection Officers to process commerce efficiently and provide the highest level of security.
Congressman Cuellar helped include $13 million in funding for CBP to create and hire new entry-level CBP positions to perform duties related to processing and documenting those who come into the United States.
As a result of the large influx of migrants this past summer, about 40% of the Border Patrol agents on the Southwest border were conducting processing, transportation, care and hospital watch, feeding, and cleaning duties instead of frontline law enforcement responsibilities at ports of entry. The reassignment of CBP officers caused major disruption to the flow of commerce through our southern border ports of entry.
The new entry-level positions will perform humanitarian related tasks such as transportation, processing and escorting migrants in CBP custody, instead of utilizing personnel vital to trade and border security.
Agriculture Specialists
The Congressman secured language for an additional 240 Agriculture Specialists at our southern border to safeguard American agriculture while facilitating legitimate trade and travel. It is critical to monitor and govern the types of plant and agricultural products to protect against threats to our economy and ecosystem. A major threat that they detect, assess, and intercept on a regular basis are pests that could potentially compromise the integrity of American crops.
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