Homeland Security Today introduces our new Leadership Interview series that seeks to increase clarity on the law and your government. We’ll talk to the leaders actually working on the front lines, following the law, implementing policy, and transforming our government to be state-of-the-art, accountable, and responsible to the American people.
Our first interview is with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner John Wagner. Wagner has been assigned to CBP headquarters in D.C. since 1999 and was appointed to his current role in the Office of Field Operations (OFO) in April 2014. He has been instrumental in transforming the way CBP does business in the 21st century, including through the Global Entry program, Mobile Passport Control, and Automated Passport Control kiosks for international travelers.
Wagner has also advanced the use of facial biometrics in entry/exit to screening more than 50 million travelers. He joined the U.S. Customs Service as a customs inspector in 1991, and worked at the New York/New Jersey seaport and Port of Laredo, Texas. Wagner is a Long Island native with a psychology degree from the State University of New York at Albany. He will be retiring from CBP on July 18.
Wagner sat down with HSToday’s Executive Editor Kristina Tanasichuk to dispel some myths and discuss the future of biometric technology at our borders.