New Homeland Security post will be responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Obama is creating a new border czar position and has chosen a former Justice Department official to fill the post an administration official told FOX News.
The new Homeland Security post will be responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The administration official said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to name Alan Bersin to the position on Wednesday during a visit to the Southwest border. The official would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.
The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and work with Mexican authorities to curb drugs and arms trafficking.
Napolitano who is making her second border trip in two weeks will be discussing the agencys efforts to curb the flow of illegal immigrants guns and drugs along the border. Last year customs officials apprehended 792321 people who tried to get into the U.S. through the Southwest border and immigration officials removed more than 369000 according to Homeland Security Department statistics.
The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and work with Mexican authorities against drug cartels. Hundreds of federal agents along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs are being deployed to the Southwest.
In his new capacity Bersin will work with international officials and their counterparts in the U.S. and border states.
From 1993 to 1998 Bersin was the federal prosecutor who led the governments crackdown on illegal immigrants at the California-Mexico border. Bersin and Napolitano were both U.S. attorneys during the Clinton administration.
During his final three years Bersin doubled as the U.S. attorney generals Southwest border representative or border czar.
Under Bersins watch the U.S. government rolled out Operation Gatekeeper a massive increase in border enforcement in the San Diego area that pushed migrants to cross illegally from Mexico in the remote mountains and deserts of Arizona.
The Justice Department did not know if or when this border czar position was eliminated. Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said top Justice officials still perform these roles and the deputy attorney general chairs a Southwest border working group in the department.
Most recently Bersin was chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. He also served under California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the secretary of education.
Earlier Bersin was the superintendent of San Diego public schools. At the time Hispanic groups decried the appointment and said Operation Gatekeeper caused a steep increase in deaths by forcing immigrants to attempt treacherous mountain and desert crossings into the United States.
Obama and Napolitano travel to Mexico this week to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
New Homeland Security post will be responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
President Obama is creating a new border czar position and has chosen a former Justice Department official to fill the post an administration official told FOX News.
The new Homeland Security post will be responsible for issues related to drug-cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The administration official said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to name Alan Bersin to the position on Wednesday during a visit to the Southwest border. The official would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.
The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and work with Mexican authorities to curb drugs and arms trafficking.
Napolitano who is making her second border trip in two weeks will be discussing the agencys efforts to curb the flow of illegal immigrants guns and drugs along the border. Last year customs officials apprehended 792321 people who tried to get into the U.S. through the Southwest border and immigration officials removed more than 369000 according to Homeland Security Department statistics.
The Obama administration has promised to crack down on border violence and work with Mexican authorities against drug cartels. Hundreds of federal agents along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs are being deployed to the Southwest.
In his new capacity Bersin will work with international officials and their counterparts in the U.S. and border states.
From 1993 to 1998 Bersin was the federal prosecutor who led the governments crackdown on illegal immigrants at the California-Mexico border. Bersin and Napolitano were both U.S. attorneys during the Clinton administration.
During his final three years Bersin doubled as the U.S. attorney generals Southwest border representative or border czar.
Under Bersins watch the U.S. government rolled out Operation Gatekeeper a massive increase in border enforcement in the San Diego area that pushed migrants to cross illegally from Mexico in the remote mountains and deserts of Arizona.
The Justice Department did not know if or when this border czar position was eliminated. Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said top Justice officials still perform these roles and the deputy attorney general chairs a Southwest border working group in the department.
Most recently Bersin was chairman of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. He also served under California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the secretary of education.
Earlier Bersin was the superintendent of San Diego public schools. At the time Hispanic groups decried the appointment and said Operation Gatekeeper caused a steep increase in deaths by forcing immigrants to attempt treacherous mountain and desert crossings into the United States.
Obama and Napolitano travel to Mexico this week to meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
