Legislative proposals to increase staffing levels of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at airports was praised by the Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA) on Wednesday as an important step amid rising numbers of international travelers.
A measure that would increase the number of CBP officers at airports was introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO). A House version of the bill was introduced in the House last week.
“With America enjoying tremendous growth in international travel in recent years, it is great to see bicameral and bipartisan support for more front-line CBP officers at our nation’s ports-of-entry,” Kevin Burke, president and CEO of ACI-NA, said. “Additional officers are long overdue as CBP already faces a severe staffing shortage of thousands of officers across all of our air, land, and seaports. This is a problem that will only get worse when stronger border-security measures funnel more traffic through these ports.”
In December, McCaskill noted in a letter to CBP Acting Commissioner Kevin Mcaleenan that, according to a staffing model that’s been in use since 2014, CBP needs to hire approximately 3,600 officers to adequately staff all ports of entry. However, the Department of Homeland Security budget for fiscal year 2018 budget did not propose hiring any new staff members.
“Airports look forward to working with Congress and Trump administration to ensure CBP has the additional staffing resources it needs to protect the American people by providing an efficient and effective screening process for everyone entering our country,” Burke said.