Alan Bersin, President Obama’s Southwest border czar, has been nominated commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, reports the Associated Press. Bersin would lead a Homeland Security Department agency that helps keep terrorists and their weapons out of the country while securing and facilitating travel and trade.
The agency enforces hundreds of regulations, including export and import controls, immigration, and drug laws. Since April, Bersin has been serving in a position created by Obama to handle illegal immigration and border issues. He has worked closely with Mexico to combat drug cartels. From 1993 to 1998, Bersin was a federal prosecutor who led a crackdown on illegal immigration across the California-Mexico border.