CBP Biometrics Transformation Leader Colleen Manaher Leaves Agency

Colleen Manaher, the executive director in the Office of Field Operations’ Planning, Program Analysis, and Evaluation Office, has left U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

CBP confirmed that Manaher left at the end of December. Dan Tanciar, who served as the deputy executive director, is now serving as the acting executive director.

Manaher led CBP’s entry-exit transformation since April 2013. She previously was director of the Land Border Integration Program Management Office and managed implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in 2009.

Manaher began her career with the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1989. From May 2004 to August 2006 she worked as a supervisory border and transportation officer at US-VISIT; from August 2006 to March 2007, she worked as senior advisor for policy at the Department of Homeland Security.

“To counter the threat of terrorism and secure our borders, while expeditiously facilitating travel and trade, CBP relies on a balanced mix of professional law enforcement personnel, advanced technologies and innovative programs,” she told a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee in 2013 while discussing the Trusted Traveler program. “CBP has made significant progress in securing the borders through a multi-layered approach using a variety of tools at our disposal.”

Before his current role, Tanciar served as CBP’s director of Travel and Tourism Initiatives and lead business sponsor for the CBP Mobile Program. He has also served as the acting chief of staff at OFO and directed the Immigration Advisory Program.

Tanciar began his CBP career in 2003 as an officer in Detroit before moving to headquarters in D.C. four years later.

Bridget Johnson

Bridget Johnson is the Managing Editor for Homeland Security Today. A veteran journalist whose news articles and analyses have run in dozens of news outlets across the globe, Bridget first came to Washington to be online editor and a foreign policy writer at The Hill. Previously she was an editorial board member at the Rocky Mountain News and syndicated nation/world news columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News. Bridget is a terrorism analyst and security consultant with a specialty in online open-source extremist propaganda, incitement, recruitment, and training. She hosts and presents in Homeland Security Today law enforcement training webinars studying a range of counterterrorism topics including conspiracy theory extremism, complex coordinated attacks, critical infrastructure attacks, arson terrorism, drone and venue threats, antisemitism and white supremacists, anti-government extremism, and WMD threats. She is a Senior Risk Analyst for Gate 15 and a private investigator. Bridget is an NPR on-air contributor and has contributed to USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, New York Observer, National Review Online, Politico, New York Daily News, The Jerusalem Post, The Hill, Washington Times, RealClearWorld and more, and has myriad television and radio credits including Al-Jazeera, BBC and SiriusXM.

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