Spring Holidays
observed by the
aviation community
26 AIRPORT VOICE, MAY 2019
CBP pulls
from JFK
airport
personnel
Augments
southern
border with
officers
BY JEFF YAPALATER
JFK airlines were told that
there would be a reduction of Customs
Border Protection (CBP)
personnel as a result of moving
a number of officers from JFK
and other locations to beef up the
southern borders.
This stems from the recent national
headquarters CBP official
statement that it “will send CBP
officers from airports and northern
border locations on temporary
assignments throughout the
Southwest border to support the
U.S. Border Patrol during the current
border security and humanitarian
crisis.”
Our local Congressman Meeks
had this to say about the redirecting
of assets. “JFK airport is one
of the largest points of entry for
the United States, a hub to the
world. More contraband comes
through our ports than through
the border. That CBP would divert
necessary resources from
JFK and Atlanta to the southern
border, where net crossings remain
at their lowest in decades, is
a concerning sign that decisions
are being made based on politics
and not security. CBP and DHS
should make it clear to the public
what are their justifications for
this seemingly political shift of
personnel.”
Former Deputy GM at JFK, and
Hartsfield-Jackson general manager
John Selden told the recently
said that the movement of customs
agents to the southern border “has
reduced our staffing levels here at
Hartsfield-Jackson. And we are
advocating through our Congressional
delegation to hopefully get
more staff here to balance it out
throughout the country.”
There were no immediate comments
from the NY Governor’s office,
Port Authority nor JFK CBP
on deployment details or potential
impact on JFK Airport during the
upcoming busy travel season.
JFKIAT President Roel Huinink receives a gift of Passover
matzoh from Rabbi Yossi Rapp, Director of Chabad
of the Airport, JFK Airport.
The Easter Bunny paid a visit to the well wishers at the grand opening of
the WorknWear promotional goods company which supplies many products
for firms and organizational events at the airport.
JFKIAT and CBP teams promote the advantages of Mobile Passport and Global Entry to passerby travelers who were not aware of
the programs that can save time when returning back from overseas.