EL PASO (Border Report) — The United States Customs and Border Protection was established on March 1, 2003, and is considered the nation’s first comprehensive border security agency.

CBP employs more that 60,000 employees is charged with facilitating lawful international travel and trade, while keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the U.S., according to CBP’s website.

Customs and Border Protection agents monitor cars, left, and pedestrians enter the U.S. through a walkway, at the Puerta Mexico international bridge in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

CBP’s approach to border management and control combines customs, immigration, border security and agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity.

On a typical day, CBP officials say the agency welcomes nearly one million visitors, screens more than 67,000 cargo containers, arrests more than 1,100 individuals, and seizes nearly 6 tons of illicit drugs. Annually, CBP facilitates an average of more than $3 trillion in legitimate trade while enforcing U.S. trade laws.

Customs and Border Protection agents survey cars entering the U.S., on the Puerta Mexico international bridge in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico, Friday, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

The uniformed ranks are only a portion of CBP’s specialized corps. They are joined by forensic scientists, international trade specialists, public affairs officers and cadres of other specialists and employees who work together to make CBP’s processes more secure, cost-effective and efficient, officials say.

CBP officers mostly work at U.S. ports of entry. They wear dark blue uniforms with CPB seal on a patch on the left. CBP officers wear their badge on the front. Some border officers wear baseball caps with the “CBP” clearly labeled.