Aguilar Weighs in on CBP Corruption Safeguards in Testimony

CBP is continually working to deter and stamp out threats caused by corrupt employees, said CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar in written testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The committee held an Aug. 1 hearing on "Unresolved Internal Investigations at DHS: Oversight of Investigation Management in the Office of the DHS IG." The focus of the testimonies is largely on drug and alien smuggling rather than tariff evasion or other trade issues.

CBP "is striving to more effectively and expediently use existing administrative authorities to mitigate the threat caused by CBP employees accused of corruption during the course of an investigation," said Aguilar. "This may include reassignment to administrative duties, administrative leave, indefinite suspension, suspension of law enforcement authorities, or other actions as deemed appropriate by the employee’s supervisory chain of command. Where a preponderance of evidence indicates that a CBP employee is engaged in corruption or serious misconduct, CBP leadership will take appropriate actions without undue delay to address the issue and where appropriate, remove the employee from his or her position."

CBP has taken several measures to reduce corruption, he said. "CBP anticipates meeting the requirements of the Anti-Border Corruption Act, including implementation of 100 percent polygraph-testing of all new hires for CBP law enforcement positions by January 2013," said Aguilar. "Additionally, CBP initiated the backlog of periodic reinvestigations prior to December 31, 2010, has adjudicated virtually all of the backlogged periodic reinvestigations, and will remain current with initiation of periodic reinvestigations that will continue to come due in future years." Aguilar's testimony is (here).

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigations has initiated a total of 4,090 investigations against CBP employees since 2004, said Acting DHS Inspector General Charles Edwards, who also provided testimony. More recently, investigations initiated against CBP employees rose by 25 percent from Fiscal Year 2010 to 2011, he said. Edwards' testimony is (here).

Meanwhile, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management was to markup the DHS Accountability Act (HR-5913), which would set up a 10 member independent advisory panel to assess the current management structure and capabilities of the DHS. Information on that markup is (here).