Bonner staff undergoes shuffle
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner has a pair of new advisors at his right hand.
Gary Shiffman, Bonner’s chief of staff, was detailed about three weeks ago to the Department of Homeland Security to work on what officials there are calling a Secure Border Initiative.
Serving as Bonner’s acting chief of staff is Chris Clark, who recently came over from the DHS Border and Transportation Security policy shop to serve as the deputy chief of staff. Clark is a 24-year veteran of the Coast Guard.
Clark originally replaced Henry Rolon, who was named the number two official in the agency’s public affairs office.
The acting deputy chief of staff at CBP is Rob Smith.
The Secure Border Initiative is an effort to conduct a comprehensive review of the nation’s assets along its land borders and develop a more integrated and functional process for managing the border, according to a top DHS official. The impetus for the review came from President Bush’s desire to create a temporary worker program and the need for border policies to mesh with allowing foreign workers into the country.