U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske lamented the political pressure agencies are under to stop every illegal immigrant or cargo shipment, saying that it is too costly from a budget and economic standpoint.
Immigration reform has stalled for years in Washington because of a perception that border security needs to be tightened before advancing policies allowing more foreigners to work in the nation.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said illegal immigration is out of control due to a porous border and that he plans to swiftly take action, including building a wall on the Mexican border, to fix the problem.
His anti-globalization rhetoric on immigration and trade suggests that he would favor more draconian inspection regimes, and possibly dismantling of homeland security border-security policies based on risk management, despite a net outflow of Mexican nationals in recent years and historic deportation numbers for illegal aliens under the Obama administration. Its possible Trump’s position on more physical security might also be applied to cargo shipments if he were to take office.
On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske expressed frustration with a political climate in Washington that holds border security officials to an absolute standard for eliminating risk without regard to efficiency, cost or performance.
Risk management is a smart way to reduce risk by focusing on priorities with finite resources, he said.
“It’s interesting, when I think about my career as a police chief in two of the country’s largest cities, working for mayors and city councils, nobody held me accountable for a crime free city,” Kerlikowske said in a keynote address to air cargo industry officials gathered in Washington, D.C.
The Customs chief previously headed the Office of Drug Control Policy at the White House and led police departments in Seattle and Buffalo, N.Y.
No officials ever said “there’s crime in Seattle, therefore you weren’t doing your job,” he said. “And yet when it comes to border security and risk management, there is just this tremendous belief on the Hill that we can’t do anything on comprehensive immigration reform until the border is secure. Not exactly sure what the definition of a secure border is – but nobody ever held me accountable for a perfectly safe city and I’m not quite sure why this accountability for ‘no cargo can ever get in that could possibly ever harm anyone at any time in this country’ [exists].”
The best approach is to deploy law enforcement personnel wisely, use technology and collaborate with the trade community to minimize potential risk from terrorist, smuggling, import safety and other threats, Kerlikowske said, “because we know when we try to stop risk totally we also stop the supply chain and we have incredibly adverse impacts on our economy.”
Kerkikowske is set to leave office in January when the Obama administration ends.
The conference was a joint venture between more than a half-dozen trade associations involved in air cargo, including Cargo Network Services (the U.S. arm of the International Air Transport Association), the Express Association of America, the Airforwarders Association and The International Air Cargo Association.
Eliminating every border threat is unrealistic, CBP chief says
