U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday framed its mission as essential to the public, in a message arguing it has played a critical role in shaping the U.S.’s 250 years of history. CBP operates under the Department of Homeland Security and includes divisions such as Border Patrol. The department has weathered some intense criticism over the past year, from both sides of the aisle, over its handling of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in deep blue hubs such as Chicago and Minneapolis, leading officials to admit “some missteps” were made.This week, CBP sought to emphasize the agency’s positives, pointing to its extensive operations that have collected revenues and patrolled U.S. borders and shores for decades. On a typical day in 2026, federal officers process over 1 million travelers and enable $10 billion in imported goods, the agency wrote Tuesday, centuries after the first revenue collectors raked in millions that funded some of the U.S.’s most important early projects, including the Louisiana Purchase.
TRANSCRIPT: WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN
“What would start as just a handful of small boats trying to collect revenues for a new nation, today has blossomed into a more than 67,000-person agency responsible not just for collecting revenues but protecting America from the air, land, and sea as one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the world,” the agency wrote, citing 9/11 as the key modern event that propelled CBP to become one of the world’s “premier” law enforcement agencies. “It’s a law enforcement agency that has used the experiences of nearly 250 years to build it to what it is today.”
