Border patrol chief to shepherd CBP

Border patrol chief to shepherd CBP    Border Patrol chief David V. Aguilar has been selected by Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano to temporarily lead U.S. Customs and Border Protection after Acting Commissioner Jayson Ahern retires on Dec. 31 until a new commissioner is confirmed by the Senate, AmericanShipper.com has learned.

Aguilar

   President Barack Obama nominated Alan Bersin in September to be CBP Commissioner, but his confirmation has languished as the Senate Finance Committee is preoccupied with the huge health care legislation now before Congress. Committee staff is reviewing Bersin's background and record, but no hearing has been scheduled yet to directly question the nominee and move towards a vote.
   Bersin currently serves as Napolitano's special representative for border affairs, with a focus on the Mexican border.

Ahern

   The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly revealed who would function as the agency's interim leader since Ahern announced Nov. 23 that he planned to retire at the end of the year, but CBP personnel were informed in an internal communication last week that Aguilar has been selected for the job, according to a source at agency headquarters. A DHS official who did not want to be identified ahead of an official announcement, confirmed two weeks ago that Aguilar is next in line to take the reins at CBP.

Bersin

   The Border Patrol is the organization within CBP responsible for preventing the entry of smugglers and illegal immigrants between land ports of entry. The Border Patrol has more than 12,700 personnel. It was merged into Customs in 2003 with the creation of DHS.
   DHS officials are also likely to have considered Thomas Winkowski, assistant commissioner of field operations for CBP, for the interim assignment before settling on Aguilar. A CBP spokesperson said she had no information about any pending leadership transition.

Winkowski

   Ahern has served as acting commissioner since February when Ralph Basham, a holdover from the Bush administration, took retirement.
   The situation of going three deep into its bench for a second acting commissioner is unprecedented, according to former agency officials. But Ahern had made it clear to colleagues that the long hours and demands of the job limited how much longer he could stay on and difficulties recovering from recent knee replacement surgery may have accelerated his timetable for retirement.
   Ahern leaves CBP after a 33-year career that began with the legacy Customs Service. He served as port director in San Diego and Miami and moved up the ranks to assistant commissioner for field operations and then deputy director.
   During his tenure in Washington he played a large role in implementing DHS's 'One Face at the Border' strategy of integrating Customs, Immigration and Agriculture inspectors into a unified force, the Container Security Initiative, Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, automated targeting centers, Importer Security Filing and the deployment of radiation portal monitors at ports. He is regarded as having coined the phrase '100 percent scanning doesn't equal 100 percent security' and changing the way CBP does business. In 2005, President Bush awarded him the Distinguished Executive award and he recently received the DHS Gold Medal for excellent service.
   'I am grateful to be leaving the agency in the capable hands of an extraordinary executive leadership team — and thousands of dedicated professionals who protect our nation each day,' a misty-eyed Ahern told hundreds of import-export professionals at the agency's Trade Symposium last week. 'To borrow a phrase from Lou Gehrig's retirement speech, 'I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.' I've been blessed with the opportunity to work at a job I've loved. A job that helps protect my country ' No one can ask for more.' ' Eric Kulisch