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United States Customs Service
 
 
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Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was the portion of the U.S. federal government
Federal government of the United States

The Federal Government of the United States is the central current reigning United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution....
 dedicated to keeping illegal products outside of U.S. border
Border

Borders define geography boundaries of political geography or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or Subnational entity. They may foster the setting up of buffer zones....
s. It also regulated what could leave the United States and was partially responsible for who could enter the United States.

onding to the urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, the First United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 passed and President George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods.






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Until March 2003, the United States Customs Service was the portion of the U.S. federal government
Federal government of the United States

The Federal Government of the United States is the central current reigning United States governmental body, established by the United States Constitution....
 dedicated to keeping illegal products outside of U.S. border
Border

Borders define geography boundaries of political geography or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or Subnational entity. They may foster the setting up of buffer zones....
s. It also regulated what could leave the United States and was partially responsible for who could enter the United States.

History

Responding to the urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
, the First United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 passed and President George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. Four weeks later, on July 31, the fifth act of Congress established the United States Customs Service and its ports of entry.

For over 100 years after its birth, the U.S. Customs Service was the primary source of funds for the entire government, and paid for the nation's early growth and infrastructure. Purchases include the Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
 and Oregon
Oregon

Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
 territories; Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
 and Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
; funding the National Road
National Road

The National Road or Cumberland Road was one of the first major improved highways in the United States, built by the Federal Government of the United States....
 and the Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental railroad

A Transcontinental Railroad is a railroad that crosses a continent from "coast-to-coast". Railroad terminal are at or connected to different oceans....
; building many of the nation's lighthouse
Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to Maritime pilot at sea....
s; the U.S. Military and Naval academies, and Washington D.C.

With the passage of the Homeland Security Act
Homeland Security Act

The Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135 , introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, created the United States Department of Homeland Security in the largest federal government reorganization since the United States Department of Defense was created via the National Security Act of 1947 ....
, the U.S. Customs Service passed from under jurisdiction of the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security.

On March 1, 2003, parts of the U.S. Customs Service combined with the Inspections Program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service

The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service was a part of the United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal immigration and naturalization....
, Plant Protection and Quarantine from USDA, and the Border Patrol
United States Border Patrol

The United States Border Patrol is a federal police within U.S. Customs and Border Protection , a component of the Department of Homeland Security ....
 of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service

The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service was a part of the United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal immigration and naturalization....
 to form U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing hundreds of U.S....
. The Federal Protective Service
Federal Protective Service

Federal Protective Service may refer to:*United States Federal Protective Service, responsible for the security of Federal buildings*Federal Protective Service , the successor of the KGB Ninth Chief Directorate, now an independent organization...
, along with the investigative arms of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, combined to form U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the largest and primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security....
.

Examples of illegal items

Us Customs
* All Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
n products without a specific license for their importation, such as cigar
Cigar

A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the smoker's mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, the Philippines, and the Eastern United States....
s.
  • Illegal drugs
    Illegal drug trade

    The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of Law controlled drugs....
  • Unscreened fruit
    Fruit

    The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
    s and meat
    Meat

    In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
    s
  • Excessive quantities of textile
    Textile

    A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
    s
  • Undeclared liquor over allowable limits
  • Tobacco products over allowable limits
  • Undeclared money or monetary instruments over $10,000
  • Undeclared firearms and weapons
  • Child pornography
    Child pornography

    Child pornography refers to images or films depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child; as such, child pornography is a visual record of child sexual abuse....


Commissioners


This table lists all Commissioners of Customs, their dates of service, and under which administration they served.

Commissioner Term Administration
Ernest W. Camp 1927–1929 Coolidge
Francis Xavier A. Eble 1929–1933 Hoover
James Henry Moyle 1933–1939 Roosevelt
Basil Harris 1939-1940 Roosevelt
William Roy Johnson 1940-1947 Roosevelt, Truman
Frank Dow Acting, 1947-1949 Truman
Frank Dow 1949-1953 Truman
Ralph Kelly 1954-1961 Eisenhower
Philip Nichols, Jr. 1961-1964 Kennedy, Johnson
Lester D. Johnson 1965–1969 Johnson
Myles Joseph Ambrose 1969–1972 Nixon
Vernon Darrell Acree 1972–1977 Nixon, Ford
Robert E. Chasen 1977–1980 Carter
William Von Raab 1981–1989 Reagan
Carol B. Hallett 1989–1993 G.H.W.Bush
George J. Weise 1993–1997 Clinton
Raymond W. Kelly
Raymond W. Kelly

Raymond Walter Kelly is the current NYPD Commissioner of the New York City Police Department and the first person to hold the post for two nonconsecutive tenures....
 		 1998–2001 Clinton
Robert C. Bonner
Robert C. Bonner

Robert C. Bonner is an American prosecutor, federal judge, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection....
 		 2001–2003 G.W.Bush


See also

  • Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System
    Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System

    The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System is a counter-terrorism system in place in the United States air transport. The United States Transportation Security Administration maintains a watchlist, pursuant to 49 USC ? 114 , of "individuals known to pose, or suspected of posing, a risk of air piracy or terrorism or a threat to air...


External links