Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs has been considered as the fiscal subject that charges customs duties and other taxes on import and export. In recent decades, the views on the functions of customs have considerably expanded and now covers three basic issues: taxation, security, and trade facilitation.
United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) management system. The system involves the collection and analysis of biometric data, which are checked against a database to track individuals deemed by the United States to be terrorists, criminals, and illegal immigrants. US-VISIT is accessed by 30,000 users from federal, state, and local government agencies. Upon Presidential approval of the 2013 Continuing resolution the US-VISIT program officially became the "Office of Biometric Identity Management" (OBIM), save for portions of the agency which performed overstay analysis being transferred into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and biometric Entry and Exit operations which became a part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The United States Customs Service was an agency of the U.S. federal government that collected import tariffs and performed other selected border security duties.
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control, immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and is the country's primary border control organization. It is charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs, and immigration. CBP is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. It has a workforce of more than 45,600 sworn federal agents and officers. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
United States border preclearance facilities are prescreening border controls operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security at airports and other ports of departure located outside the United States under agreement between the host country and the federal government of the United States. Travelers are subject to immigration and customs inspections by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers before boarding their transportation onward to the United States. Preclearance applies to all passengers regardless of their nationality or purpose of travel. Upon arrival, precleared passengers are treated as domestic passengers and do not need to be screened again. This process is intended to streamline border procedures, reduce congestion at American ports of entry, and facilitate travel into airports that otherwise lack customs processing facilities.
A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard and rescue service duties.
The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is a voluntary supply-chain security program led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) focused on improving the security of private companies' supply chains with respect to terrorism. The program was launched in November 2001 with seven initial participants, all large U.S. companies. As of December 1, 2014, the program had 10,854 members. The 4,315 importers in the program account for approximately 54% of the value of all merchandise imported into the U.S.
Jayson P. Ahern is the former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He was Assistant Commissioner for Field Operations from March 2003 to August 2007. He managed an operating budget of $2.2 billion and directs the activities of more than 25,000 employees, including more than 19,000 CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists, and oversees the programs and operations at 20 Field Operations offices, 317 ports of entry and 14 preclearance stations in Canada and the Caribbean. He was responsible for Immigration Policy and Programs that includes all immigration issues related to the admission and exclusion of aliens as well as the Agricultural Inspection at all Ports of Entry to protect the health of U.S. plant and animal resources and the facilitation of their movement in the global market place.
Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). AMO's mission is to protect the American people and nation's critical infrastructure through the coordinated use of air and marine assets to detect, interdict and prevent acts of terrorism and the unlawful movement of people, illegal drugs, and other contraband toward or across the borders of the United States. Air and Marine Operations Agents and Officers are endowed with the authority to enforce Title 8 and Title 19 (Customs) of the United States Code in addition to the general law enforcement powers bestowed upon federal law enforcement agents.
Form I-94, the Arrival-Departure Record Card, is a form used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intended to keep track of the arrival and departure to/from the United States of people who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents. While the form is usually issued by CBP at ports of entry or deferred inspection sites, USCIS can issue an equivalent as part of the Form I-797A approval notice for a Form I-129 petition for an alien worker or a Form I-539 application for extension of stay or change of status.
NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border entry points by using reserved lanes at land crossings into Canada and the United States, by using self-serve kiosks at airports in Canada, the US and some international locations, or by phoning border officials for a marine entry. A NEXUS membership card is a valid document under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), so it can be used in place of a passport, including by air if flying between the US and Canada.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is the implementation of the requirement to show a passport or other acceptable document to enter the United States, for nationals of certain North American jurisdictions who were previously exempt from it when traveling within the Americas. The requirement was mandated by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, enacted in 2004 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and implemented in phases between 2007 and 2009. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the purpose is to strengthen border security and facilitate entry into the United States for both U.S. citizens and foreign visitors.
The United States passport card is an optional national identity card and a travel document issued by the United States federal government in the size of a credit card. Like a U.S. passport book, the passport card is only issued to U.S. nationals exclusively by the U.S. Department of State, compliant to the standards for identity documents set by the REAL ID Act, and can be used as proof of U.S. citizenship and identity. The passport card allows its holders to travel by domestic air flights within the United States, and to travel by land and sea within North America. However, the passport card cannot be used for international air travel.
The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) provides expedited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing, at the U.S.-Mexico border, of pre-approved travelers considered low-risk. Voluntarily applicants must undergo a thorough background check against criminal, customs, immigration, law enforcement, and terrorist databases; a 10-fingerprint law enforcement check; and a personal interview with a CBP Officer. The total enrollment fee is $122.50, and SENTRI status is valid for 5 years.
Global Entry is a program of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service that allows pre-approved, low-risk travelers to receive expedited clearance upon arrival into the United States via the SENTRI and NEXUS lanes and through automatic kiosks at select airports. As of May 4, 2018, Global Entry was available at 53 US airports and 15 preclearance locations. By April 2018 more than 5 million people were enrolled in Global Entry and approximately 50,000 new applications for the program were being filed monthly.
The concept of border security in the United States of America shares a complex relationship with the persistent threat of terrorism. Border security includes the protection of land borders, ports, and airports. The relationship is unique in the sense that the federal government must constantly reevaluate and tweak its border security policy to address the perceived threats posed to the United States through the form of human terrorism or the smuggling and detonation of a weapon of mass destruction.
The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 is an appropriations bill that was introduced into the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress. The bill would appropriate money to various government agencies related to the United States Department of Homeland Security. This funding would be used during fiscal year 2014, which ends September 30, 2014. The United States House Committee on Appropriations recommended "$38,993,000,000 in discretionary funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2014, $34,885,000, or .09 percent, below the amount requested and $613,205,000, or 1.55 percent, below fiscal year 2013 enacted levels."
The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control enforcement, investigations, compliance and detention operations in Australia.
Unaccompanied Alien Children is a United States government classification for children in immigration custody and the name of a program operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to house and care for them. The term designates unaccompanied minors who are aliens, typically those who have been apprehended outside of a legal port of entry or judged inadmissible upon their entry.
