United States Customs and Border Protection is the largest federal law enforcement arm inside the US Department of Homeland Security, charged with regulating trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing customs and immigration laws, as reported by the agency.
As reported by CBP, the agency formed on March 1, 2003, and had staffing figures variously cited in its materials, including a workforce number and an employee total of 69,875 plus for 2026 and an annual budget of $23 billion for 2026.
CBP operations include 328 official ports of entry and 14 preclearance locations, and programs such as the Container Security Initiative, implemented in 20 of the largest foreign ports and at 58 ports worldwide, as reported by the agency.
Mission elements include passenger and cargo inspection, agriculture protection, air and maritime interdiction, and interior checkpoints within a zone extending up to 100 miles inland, as described in agency materials and regulatory citations.
CBP staff roles include about 33,300 officers inspecting passengers and cargo, roughly 21,000 Border Patrol agents on land borders, approximately 2,200 agriculture specialists, about 1,000 air and marine interdiction agents, and about 2,500 revenue employees, as reported by the agency.
Specialized programs and partnerships cited by CBP include SENTRI and NEXUS trusted traveler lanes, Free and Secure Trade, biometric and passenger vetting systems linked to joint terrorism efforts, and cooperation with FDA and other agencies to screen high risk imports.
Controversies And Oversight
CBP has faced repeated management and conduct criticisms across multiple reports and media investigations, including low job satisfaction rankings reported by the Office of Personnel Management in 2006 and 2007, and a Government Accountability Office finding of staffing, training, and overwork problems.
The agency has also been the subject of civil rights and abuse allegations. The ACLU and the University of Chicago Law School clinic alleged widespread mistreatment of detained immigrant children from 2009 to 2014, a claim CBP denied, as reported in the source materials.
Investigations and reporting have highlighted troubling employee conduct. ProPublica reported on a private Facebook group called "I'm 10-15" with about 9,500 members, and CBP opened an internal probe after the outlet published screenshots and posts attributed to current and former agents.
CBP policy and programs around digital data and device searches have drawn scrutiny. The Washington Post reported that customs officials amassed large sets of travelers' phone data, prompting questions from lawmakers including Senator Ron Wyden, and other outlets documented device search practices and exit photographing programs.
Operational deployments have also raised legal challenges. Reporting linked CBP tactical units to federal actions in Portland in 2020 and to aggressive force during Operation Midway Blitz in 2025, and state legal action followed in at least one instance, as reported by the sources.
The agency has instituted measures to strengthen vetting of staff, including mandated polygraph testing for applicants since 2011, and the CBP has emphasized its detection, interdiction, and trade enforcement roles in public materials.
