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CBP Opens Doors at Intech Park
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CBP agent Allen Wallace is stationed at Lake Erie to prevent human smuggling
and drug trafficking by boat.
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Commissioner W. Ralph Basham
Photos by Linda Karn |
(posted June 6)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection held a ribbon cutting ceremony to
open its new hiring center at Intech Park. The June 5 opening was
marked with a visit by Commissioner W. Ralph Basham. The center
opens with 80 human resource employees to process 200,000 applications
a year. The center will eventually be staffed with 130 employees that will
assist with filling customs positions throughout the world.
Basham said opening the center in the Midwest was part of his vision to
provide affordable housing to employees. Basham, who is headquartered in
Washington DC, said that housing is so expensive in the nation's Capital
that it is not unusual to find employees living 100 miles away in order
to afford a home.
Prior to Basham heading the CBP, he served as a Secret Service agent assigned
to almost every president, starting with President Nixon. He said
he had the privilege of be assigned to President Harry Truman in his
later days in Independence, Missouri.
Diane Tucker joined CBP because she wanted to make an international difference.
Tucker is stationed at the Indianapolis International Airport to inspect
produce and ag-products. Imports and foreigners arrive daily at the airport and they
all require inspections by CBP.
Customs officers also work at FedEx to check imported goods. She said that
any package that does not match up with its manifest is inspected by CBP.
She said people often complain that their overseas package was damaged.
She said "It wasn't by FedEx, it was by somebody else (CBP). FedEx
just taped it back up."
Tucker works in the area of agricultural imports. For Tucker, the area was a natural match since she is a master gardener.
She said it is important to keep our borders safe from bugs and diseases
that would destroy our plants and animals. Tourists bringing back Brazilian
Mangoes need import permits to verify they are not carrying in bugs. National
chain stores that import produce have permits that required USDA approval
of foreign farming practices to insure the safety of the US food supply.
Tucker is now working on a case where a lady did not have a permit to bring
back wood from New Zealand. She needed a permit indicting that the wood
was dry treated. Imported wood must be dry treated before it can enter
the country in order to prevent bugs from entering the country and destroying
our native trees.
State Representative Phil Hinkle called the CBP agents the "front line" that uphold our Constitution. He said it is because of our "flexibility" that America is the only country that has been named the "Melting Pot of the World."
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