Congressman John Carter (R-TX31), Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, today applauded the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) allocation plan to deploy 2,000 additional CBP Officers nationwide to the nation’s busiest land, sea, and airports of entry.  Once trained, the new officers will bring CBP’s customs force to the largest operational size in history of 23,775 CBP officers.

Chairman Carter is committed to reducing wait times at the border to facilitate the almost $2.38 trillion worth of goods that cross the borders annually and to process the more than 110 million international travelers expected this year.

In particular, Chairman Carter is pleased to see a substantial number of the new officers that will be deployed to work in Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston airports, and Laredo, El Paso, Hidalgo/Pharr, Fabens, Brownsville, Eagle Pass, and Progreso land ports of entry. 

“Facilitating trade and travel results in millions of American jobs and supports our economy, which is why I fought to budget for these additional officers.  I will be monitoring CBP’s deployment plan to be sure the officers are well-trained and located in the places that need them most.”

Congressman Henry Cueller (D-TX28), whose district includes Laredo, voiced his support for the increase.

"Increasing the number of men and women in blue who man our border is a tremendous step towards fostering trade and commerce and supporting our border communities," said Congressman Cuellar (D-TX28). "These increases at ports of entry at Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley will allow more trade to cross the border every day, which brings in revenue for our local communities, creates economic growth, and provides good paying jobs for hardworking border residents. I thank Homeland Security Appropriations Committee Chairman John Carter and Ranking Member David Price for their support of this increase and look forward to continuing to work together."