LAREDO, Texas –U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Laredo Field Office announces today that Andrew Douglas, currently the Assistant Director of Field Operations, Border Security for Detroit Field Office, will take the reins as Acting Port Director for Laredo Port of Entry. Douglas succeeds Gregory Alvarez, who had served as Port Director since November 2015 and who also enters on duty today as the Director, Field Operations for San Juan, P.R. Field Office.
“Having come from a field office with large amounts of cargo traffic tied to the automobile industry, Laredo Port of Entry, which also processes significant volumes of automobile parts, machinery and finished automobiles, will feel just like home, with slightly warmer weather,” Douglas said. “I look forward to meeting and working jointly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners and international trade stakeholders to help facilitate lawful trade while maintaining laser focus on our vital border security mission.”
Laredo Port of Entry
As Port Director at Laredo Port of Entry, Mr. Douglas is responsible for managing a workforce of 1,200+, operations and enforcement activities at four international bridges, one international airport and one rail crossing facility; as well as maintaining management and oversight responsibilities for processing nearly 17 million travelers, 2.3 million commercial trucks and upwards of $139 billion in trade annually.
Prior to this assignment, Mr. Douglas most recently served as the Assistant Director, Border Security for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the Detroit Field Office. In this capacity, he assists with the operational oversight of seven major ports of entry in the State of Michigan including an operational budget of $75M and directing the activities of more than 1,400 employees. Mr. Douglas’s responsibilities include implementing anti-terrorism and anti-smuggling initiatives; traveler admissibility policies; managing the overall passenger operations (land, air, and sea); and special enforcement operations to ensure border integrity.
Mr. Douglas previously served as the Area Port Director, in Port Huron, Michigan, where he oversaw the Blue Water Bridge border crossing, the 4th busiest U.S. commercial land border by volume, as well as one rail crossing, two regional airports, and several small boat reporting stations. Mr. Douglas began his career with the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2002. He has held a variety of key management positions with CBP, such as the Acting Deputy Director, Operations Directorate, Acting Assistant Port Director, Laredo Texas, Associate Chief-East/Central Corridor, Office of Border Patrol (OBP) and the Acting Director of the Land Border Integration Team, CBP Headquarters.
Mr. Douglas is a 2013 graduate of the CBP Leadership Institute at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. He holds an Associate’s Degree from Brigham Young University, Idaho.