Countdown to shutdown:

Customs and Border Protection

  • The American Federation of Government Employees wants mandatory safety guidelines for federal Ebola responders. Those include nurses, doctors and employees at agencies including the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection. Among the union's priorities are better communication between agencies and universal protocols.

    October 23, 2014
  • Federal chief information officers say overwhelmingly that cybersecurity is their top priority. That data is from the 2014 Federal News Radio Chief Information Officer survey. Charlie Armstrong is the chief information officer for the Customs and Border Protection directorate in the Homeland Security Department. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he told Federal News Radio executive editor Jason Miller how CBP's priorities begin and end with cybersecurity.

    October 21, 2014
  • A new Federal News Radio survey of federal chief information officers and deputy CIOs found cyber above all else is the top priority. Charlie Armstrong, the CIO for Customs and Border Protection, said his focus is to protect the data first and foremost and his systems a very close second.

    October 21, 2014
  • Over the coming weeks and months, many federal workers and military personnel will be involved in the fight to contain, then isolate and eliminate the disease. Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wonders what measures agencies will be taking to protect those workers.

    October 20, 2014
  • You might say Customs and Border Protection had a busy summer. The agency had to deal with a surge of unaccompanied minors. Tens of thousands of them flooded across the Mexican border. CBP handled all it with limited funding. It also faced claims that agents used excessive force at detention centers and against people trying to cross into the United States illegally. Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the next steps.

    October 13, 2014
  • The drone fleet at Customs and Border Protection isn't big, but the law states that very strict oversight from the Homeland Security Department and CBP is important. Rebecca Gambler is director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues at the Government Accountability Office. On In Depth with Francis Rose, she said Congress mandated a look at CBP's drone program.

    October 07, 2014
  • Relief is coming to border patrol agents on the Mexican border. Congress is boosting spending for Customs and Border Protection to deal with unaccompanied minors. The agency will have the flexibility to hire more agents and staff at detention centers. Plus, the flood of illegal immigrants has slowed down, at least for now. Shawn Moran is vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. He gave Tom Temin an on-the-ground view of what's going on at the border on the Federal Drive.

    October 01, 2014
  • Congress left town ignoring the Obama administration's request for more funding to deal with illegal immigration. Dana Leigh Marks is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and an immigration judge in San Francisco. When we spoke with her at the peak of the surge across the Southern border in July, she described her work as handling death-penalty cases with traffic court resources. She gave an update on the situation on the Federal Drive with guest host Emily Kopp.

    September 26, 2014
  • Fred Burton, vice president for Intelligence at Stratfor, will discuss a wide range of border security issues with host Derrick Dortch. August 22, 2014

    August 22, 2014
  • Border Patrol agents might start choosing their own work hours. A bill from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) would also create different rules on overtime pay for agents at Customs and Border Protection. Shawn Moran is vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said if CBP can keep its personnel costs low enough, it can also keep the border fully staffed at all times.

    August 18, 2014
  • Fred Burton, vice president for Intelligence at Stratfor, will discuss a wide range of border security issues with host Derrick Dortch. August 8, 2014

    August 08, 2014
  • More than 3,000 Border Patrol agents are working along the Texas-Mexico border as the nation deals with a surge in illegal immigration. Before President Barack Obama declared the influx of unaccompanied children and teenagers a humanitarian crisis, Customs and Border Protection was already in need of more hands. It had announced plans to hire 2,000 officers. Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to give a close up view at the stresses on the border patrol.

    July 25, 2014
  • The White House has asked for $1.4 billion more for the Health and Human Services program that serves child migrants. President Obama calls the flood of child migrants crossing the Mexican border illegally and alone an "urgent humanitarian situation." Authorities at the southwest border have stopped 47,000 children in the past eight months. Shawn Moran is vice president and spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council. He tells Tom Temin on the Federal Drive about the scene at the border.

    June 05, 2014
  • The Government Accountability Office takes a look at the effects of the 2013 sequester and how agencies prepared.

    May 30, 2014
  • Personnel costs take up a larger share of Customs and Border Protection's budget than ever before. More than 70 percent of the agency's Fiscal 2015 budget request will go to compensation. Some members of Congress are worried those rising costs will crowd out CBP's ability to deliver high-priority IT projects and fulfill its mission. In our Congressional Spotlight, Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, tells In Depth with Francis Rose the problem CBP has is two-fold.

    April 09, 2014