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GAO-24-107058 1 (2024-01-24)

handle is hein.gao/gaoptr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 January 24, 2024 Congressional Committees U.S. Ports of Entry: Update on CBP Public-Private Partnerships On a daily basis in fiscal year 2022, approximately 869,000 passengers and pedestrians and over 91,000 truck, rail, and sea containers carrying goods worth approximately $9.2 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 other inadmissible individuals out of the country while facilitating the flow of legitimate international travel and trade through the nation's POEs.2 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 under its Reimbursable Services Program (RSP) to cover CBP's cost to augment services it provides at POEs or other facilities.4 This augmentation is for services beyond those CBP provides as funded by its annual appropriations. Stakeholders include port authorities or local municipalities that own or manage the ports or private companies that conduct business through the ports.5 Services include those supporting customs, agricultural processing, border security, or immigration inspection matters. For example, the RSP enables stakeholders, or partners, to pay 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 CBP officers clear passengers, merchandise and other items; collect duties; enforce customs and other U.S. laws; and inspect persons seeking to enter or applying for admission into, or departing 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). 4See Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, title IV, subtitle G, § 481, 116 Stat. 2135, as added by Cross-Border Trade Enhancement Act of 2016, Pub. L. No. 114-279, § 2(a), 130 Stat. 1413, 1413-17 (classified at 6 U.S.C. § 301). 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. In addition, 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 POEs that the component would otherwise not have been able to provide. 5We refer to the stakeholders or entities that CBP enters into partnerships with as partners throughout this report. GAO-24-107058 CBP Public-Private Partnerships Page 1