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GAO-19-263R 1 (2019-03-14)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadvqo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 March 14, 2019 Congressional Committees U.S. Ports of Entry: Update on CBP Public-Private Partnership Programs On a typical day in fiscal year 2017, over 1 million passengers and pedestrians and over 78,000 truck, rail, and sea containers carrying goods worth approximately $7.2 billion entered the United States through 328 U.S. land, sea, and air ports of entry (POE), according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).1 Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CBP is the lead federal agency charged with a dual mission of keeping terrorists and their weapons, criminals and their contraband, and inadmissible aliens out of the country while facilitating the flow of legitimate international travel and trade through the nation's POEs.= CBP's Office of Field Operations is responsible for conducting passenger and cargo processing activities related to security, trade, immigration, and agricultural inspection at the nation's POEs.3 Since 2013, CBP has entered into public-private partnerships with stakeholders, such as port authorities or local municipalities that own or manage the ports or private companies that conduct business through the ports, under its Reimbursable Services Program (RSP) to cover CBP's cost of providing certain services at POEs.4 Such services include those supporting customs, agricultural processing, border security, or immigration inspection matters. For example, the RSP enables entities to pay the overtime costs of CBP personnel who may provide such services outside normal business hours.5 A second public-private partnership program-the Donations Acceptance Program (DAP)-enables entities to donate personal or real property, nonpersonal services, or provide funding related to land acquisition, design, construction, repair or alteration, and operations and maintenance to CBP and the General Services Administration (GSA) at POEs.6 More specifically, the DAP permits CBP and GSA to 1Ports of entry are facilities that provide for the controlled entry into or departure from the United States. Specifically, a port of entry is any officially designated location (seaport, airport, or land border location) where DHS officers or employees are assigned to clear passengers, merchandise and other items, collect duties, and enforce customs laws; and where DHS officers inspect persons seeking to enter or depart, or applying for admission into, the United States pursuant to U.S. immigration and travel controls. 2See 6 U.S.C. § 211 (a) (establishing CBP within DHS), (c) (enumerating CBP's duties). 3See id. § 211 (g) (establishing and listing duties of Office of Field Operations within CBP). 4We refer to entities that CBP selects for and/or enters into partnerships with CBP as partners throughout this report. 5More specifically, the RSP enables partnerships between CBP and private sector or government entities, allowing CBP to provide new or additional services upon the request of partners, and may cover costs such as salaries, benefits, overtime expenses, administration, and transportation costs. According to authorizing legislation, RSP agreements are subject to certain limitations, including that they may not unduly and permanently impact existing services funded by an appropriations act or fee collection. According to CBP officials, the purpose of the RSP is to provide new or additional CBP services at ports of entry that the component would otherwise not have been able to provide. 6GSA also oversees matters related to the DAP at all land POEs with GSA-operated real estate. GAO-19-263R CBP Public-Private Partnerships Page 1