August 2022         
Today's Date: July 2, 2024
World's Largest Swimming Lesson™ (#WLSL2024) Kicks Off First Day of Summer with Global Event Teaching Kids and Parents How   •   REI Systems Awarded $6M Contract from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for its Grants Management Solution   •   Freedmen’s Town Community Investment Initiative Launches   •   Black-Owned Pharmacy Startup in St. Louis Combines Services of Walgreens and Amazon to Address Pharmacy Desert Crisis   •   The V Foundation for Cancer Research Announces 2024 Recipients for A Grant of Her Own: The Women Scientists Innovation Award for   •   Travel Industry Professional Women Gather for Third Annual Women in Travel THRIVE at HSMAI Day of Impact 2024   •   Susan G. Komen® Warns of Dire Impact from Braidwood Management, Inc. et al. v. Xavier Becerra et al. Ruling That Will Force   •   Produced by Renegade Film Productions/Chameleon Multimedia, Obscure Urban Legend ‘Sweaty Larry’ to Be Invoked for Fi   •   Media Advisory: Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson Visits Affordable Apartment Complex in Dallas   •   Survey of Nation's Mayors Highlights City Efforts to Support LGBTQ+ Residents   •   Maximus Named a Top Washington-Area Workplace by The Washington Post   •   Carín León's Socios Music Forms Global Partnership with Virgin Music Group and Island Records   •   Shop, Sip, and Support Social Justice Programs at Five Keys Furniture Annex in Stockton, California, on Saturday, June 22nd from   •   Chinatown Storytelling Centre Opens New Exhibit: Neighbours: From Pender to Hastings   •   PARAMOUNT GLOBAL, NICKELODEON AND DCMP FORM MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP TO MAKE BRANDS' GLOBALLY BELOVED KIDS' PROGRAMMING ACCESSIBLE   •   SCOTUS Ruling in Rahimi Case Upholds Protections for Domestic Violence Survivors, BWJP Experts Celebrate   •   Martina Navratilova, Riley Gaines, Donna de Varona, Jennifer Sey Join Female Athletes For Rally in Washington, DC to "Take Back   •   Melmark Receives $30M Gift to Fuel Services for Individuals with Autism, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities   •   Media Advisory: Arvest Bank Awards $15,000 CARE Award to University District Development Corp.   •   Lifezone Metals Announces Voting Results from its 2024 Annual General Meeting
Bookmark and Share

FBI Combats Border Corruption

 

   
   


Watch Video: FBI Special Agent Keith Byers describes the Bureau's interest in border protection.
Imagine a U.S. border guard on the take waving through a truck filled with weapons, drugs, explosives, or even a dirty bomb.

It’s that kind of scenario that keeps the FBI very focused on weeding out the occasional dishonest government official who accepts bribes to allow people or contraband into this country illegally.

“Because of its impact on national security, crookedness at our borders is one of the top priorities in our public corruption program,” says Special Agent Keith Byers, a public corruption supervisor in our Chicago office (and formerly assigned to the Public Corruption Unit at FBI Headquarters). “While it’s true that the most common acts of border corruption involve drug trafficking and human smuggling, a single incident of the wrong person getting into the country could result in a catastrophe.”

A few more possibilities of what could go wrong:

  • A corrupt officer might believe that he or she is accepting a bribe in return for allowing a carload of illegal immigrants to enter the country, when those individuals may actually be hard-core gang members or terrorists.
  • A crooked official who expedites someone’s immigration paperwork or helps someone obtain an identification document in return for a bribe could potentially be facilitating the operation of a terrorist cell, foreign counterintelligence network, or major criminal enterprise.
  • A corrupt officer could knowingly or unknowingly allow entry of a truck, rail car, ship, or airplane carrying weapons of mass destruction, chemical or biological weapons, or bomb-making materials.

Border crossing at San Ysidro, California.

A multi-agency response. FBI-led Border Corruption Task Forces are the cornerstone of our efforts to root out this kind of corruption. Initially located primarily along our nation’s southwest border, we now also have task forces in Detroit, Miami, and San Juan, and we are setting up others in cities like Buffalo, Newark, and Seattle. These task forces generally consist of representatives from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security agencies (including Customs and Border Protection Internal Affairs, Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Department of Homeland Security—Office of Inspector General), and state and local law enforcement.

And we’ve just created a National Border Corruption Task Force at FBI Headquarters. It’s role—much like that of our National Joint Terrorism Task Force—is to coordinate the activities of these regional task forces, especially in the areas of investigations, training, and inter-agency cooperation. 

Through joint investigations with our partners, we’ve been able to uncover the corrupt acts of federal agents, local police, correctional officers, military personnel, and even U.S. government employees responsible for issuing passports, visas, green cards, etc. And in many instances, we’ve had success with some of the same sophisticated techniques we’ve used so effectively in the past—including undercover operations and court-authorized electronic surveillance.

Post 9/11, the ranks of those responsible for securing our borders began to swell, as did the opportunities for corruption. And while most of these individuals are honest and dedicated public servants, we will continue working to uncover those few bad apples whose illegal deeds could potentially put an entire nation at risk.

 

Resources:
Abused Trust: The Case of the Crooked Border Official
Investigating Public Corruption



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News