By Justin O'Brien
May 10, 2004

David V. Aguilar has been appointed to take the helm at the U.S. Border Patrol effective July 1. Aguilar, a 26-year veteran of the agency, will replace Gus de la Viña who has led the agency since 1997. The announcement was made by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Robert C. Bonner May 3. De la Viña is retiring.

The U.S. Border Patrol is responsible for policing 6,000 miles of land borders with Mexico and Canada. It is also responsible for patrolling the 2,000 miles of coastal waters around Florida and Puerto Rico. Its primary mission is to prevent and detect illegal entry by aliens. The U.S. Border Patrol, formerly an agency within the Immigration and Naturalization Service commonly referred to as the INS, was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. It now falls under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It has a force of over 10,000 agents.

Aguilar has headed the Tucson (AZ) sector of the US-Mexico border since 1999. In that position, he has overseen the implementation of the recently-announced Arizona Border Control Initiative which was prompted by a surge in smuggling aliens and contraband, including illegal drugs across the Arizona-Mexico border. The result of this surge has been an explosion of violent crime in the Phoenix area.

Conference Cities and Borders Task Force Co-chairs Laredo Mayor Betty Flores and Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, offered thanks for their service and encouragement to the present and future Border Patrol leadership. "I'm delighted that the Border Patrol will continue to be led by as qualified a veteran of the agency as Mr. Aguilar," Kilpatrick said. "I also want to thank Chief de la Viña for his tireless service in defense of our borders and laws and congratulate him on his retirement." Flores said, "I want to say a heartfelt thank you to my fellow Texan, Chief Gus de la Viña, for his numerous years of service and the wonderful job he's done under very difficult circumstances, particularly since 2001. I am pleased that Tucson Sector Chief David Aguilar will be assuming the leadership of the border patrol. He is someone with first-hand experience of the many issues that our southern and northern border communities face."

The U.S. Conference of Mayors' Cities and Borders Task Force is the Conference forum for discussion of the impact and effects of national border issues and related federal policy and practices on cities throughout the country.