As Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs, Erin Waters oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s external engagement and outreach, including its media, digital, strategic, visual, internal, and incident communications efforts, and serves as the principal advisor to Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller on all communications programs and initiatives.
Waters is a national security communications and public affairs expert with more than a decade of experience across government and law enforcement agencies, public policy and international organizations, and political campaigns. She rejoined the Department of Homeland Security in 2021 in senior leadership positions within the Office of Public Affairs, where she oversaw cross functional teams driving solutions to complex public affairs challenges and advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on strategic communications.
Previously, Waters served as the communications director to a member of Congress from California. Earlier in her career, she was appointed by the Obama-Biden Administration to serve at DHS as the director of Strategic Communications, overseeing messaging, events, and multi-platform communications for all 22 component agencies. In addition, Waters served as the secretary’s senior advance officer, planning and executing hundreds of engagements all over the world. Then, she was the first head of strategic communications at a bipartisan public policy organization, directing engagement and communications for key national issues. Waters worked on the national communications leadership team for a presidential campaign, and as a sought-after communications consultant, providing counsel to a range of clients on domestic and international security, public health, and international relations.
Waters grew up in New York, and now resides in Washington, D.C. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors from American University. She is an Aspen Security Forum Scholar and an alumna of the WeLead leadership training program