The Customs Border Protection Acting Commissioned Kevin McAleenan held a press briefing at JFKIAT to share the CBP State of the Trade and Travel for 2017. His choice for the briefing was at JFK because it is the businest international destination in the country.
McAleenan acknowledged the continued growth of travel, trade and ecommerce over the past year. The tasks of protecting our country from illegal immigration, from terror, from illegal products and from drugs was “daunting” he said. But through a comprehensive set of innovations these issues are being addressed. These innovations include a host of travel benefits that include APC ( Automated Passport Control), MPC(Mobile Passport Control, Global Entry. TSAPre, ACE, and other technology based programs dealing with terrorism, illicit drugs and counterfeit goods.
He said that biometrics is an important part of technology innovation which he said will “re-invent seciuruty”. For example a face recognition pilot program will begin for passenger Entry at British Airways terminal in March at JFK. Another pilot program is schcduled for Terminal 4.
Direct to consumer delivery from overseas is another point of concern for the agency. Currently opioids are being sent as cargo and US mail in small packages in the attempt to evade detection. The CBP agency at JFK is employing new detection systems to increase the percentage of intercepted goods and reduce the supply that hits the streets.
There is also a large counterfeit goods market shipping product into the US. Programs here include advance notice of what and where goods are originating form. Intercepts and later arrests are made with information gleaned from both overseas notice and domestic human detection based on increasing strong technology algorithyms.There is a move to work with aggregators such as Amazon to provide better ways of screening their goods.
McAleenan thanked all responsible her at JFK for their work since he said the CBP is “ the first line of defense. He said that our customs agency is a “1st class act” and will do whatever is necessary to protect the public..
Kevin K. McAleenan became Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection January 20, 2017. As thechief executive, Mr. McAleenan oversees 60,000 employees, manages a budget of over $13 billion, and ensures the effective operations of CBP’s efforts to protect national security while promoting economic prosperity and security. Mr. McAleenan directs CBP’s three core missions, counterterrorism, border security, and trade enforcement, while facilitating $4 Trillion in trade and travel of over 365 million people through ports of entry. He oversees the largest law enforcement agency and second-largest revenue collecting source in the federal government.
