Last week, Secretary Johnson traveled to Los Angeles to meet with DHS personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and see firsthand the work they do to keep our nation safe and secure.
On Thursday, Secretary Johnson visited Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) where he toured TSA and CBP operations including the CBP Federal Inspection Facility located on site.
Customs officers gave Secretary Johnson an overview of their agricultural protection program at the airport. In 2013, CBP officers processed about 100 international flights and 22,000 international travelers each day at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
Secretary Johnson also visited Global Entry kiosks at the airport—Global Entry is a CBP program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States, and is just one of the Trusted Traveler programs offered by the Department to facilitate travel and trade in the United States.
While at LAX, Secretary Johnson had the opportunity to meet with and thank some of the men and women of CBP (pictured below) and TSA who work hard every day to keep the traveling public and our Nation safe, including the colleagues of fallen TSA Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez who died in the line of duty at LAX last year. This tragic incident reminds us that being on the frontlines also comes with a great risk – a risk that these men and women undertake willingly to protect us every day.
Later on Thursday, Secretary Johnson traveled to the Joint Regional Intelligence Center in Los Angeles and participated in a roundtable discussion with law enforcement partners.
On Friday, Secretary Johnson met with CBP, U.S. Coast Guard, and ICE personnel. CBP Acting Commissioner Thomas Winkowski joined the Secretary for a briefing and aerial tour of DHS operations at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport.
As Secretary Johnson laid out in his first major address, border and port security is indispensable to homeland security. “Good border security is a barrier to terrorist threats, drug traffickers, transnational criminal organizations, and other threats to national security and public safety,” he said.
While at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport, Secretary Johnson spoke to members of the U.S. Coast Guard during an all-hands meeting of Coast Guard personnel working there.
During his visit to Los Angeles, Secretary Johnson also met Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and participated in a roundtable discussion with stakeholders on the need for commonsense immigration reform.
You can read more about Secretary Johnson’s visit to Los Angeles here.